6 Disproportionately Common Names By Profession

The Washington Post pulled together five different data visualization charts to show how much you can tell about a person based on their name. Not only are details like your age, your state, and your political leanings inferred based on your moniker, your profession can be as well. While it’s been well documented that a person’s name can either be a boon or a deterrent in the job application process, this handy chart from Verdant Labs (the makers of a baby name app) shows the names that are disproportionately more likely to fall into certain career paths.

Verdant Labs // Click here for a larger version.

Looking across a spectrum of jobs, from creative to blue-collar to celebrity-driven, Verdant Labs used public records to map out the six names that have a higher percentage of showing up in a given profession (which does not equate to the six most common in that field—just the proportion of, say, interior designers named Lynne compared to the number of Lynnes out there). For example, those with the name Louise or Clement are perhaps more likely to becomes judges than Vanessa or Kurt, who are graphic designers.

Some of the name bubbles read a little like joke categories, particularly the musician ones. Can't we all name a couple of famous songwriters named Stevie or Billy? Or guitarists named Mick or Eddie? But my hometown's meteorologist was named Mike, so maybe there is some truth to this fun visualization chart.