Is your kid's name Republican or Democratic, conservative or liberal?

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Parents’ baby name choices linked to political leanings
By Amy Graff, June 10, 2013

Have you ever found yourself trying to figure out whether the parents of your child’s friend are Republicans or Democrats? A new study reveals that you might be able to make an educated guess based on the child’s name.

If the kid is called Lucas, the parents are more likely to be Obama supporters. If his name is David, then his parents were more likely to vote for Romney.

What’s the reasoning here?

Researchers at the University of Chicago found that liberal parents like names with softer, more feminine “L” and “A” sounds, especially with the “A” falling at the end of the name (Ella, Sophia, Liam, Lena). Conservatives go for names with harder, stronger, more masculine “D,” “K,” “T” and  ”B” sounds (Kurt, Kim, Donald, Bryce).

Another significant trend the study revealed is well-educated conservatives prefer traditional and common monikers while educated liberals are more likely to try something unusual. The parents of a Mary or Elizabeth are more likely to vote red while the parents of an Apple or London are most likely voting blue.

University of Chicago political scientist Eric Oliver, the study’s lead researcher, analyzed California birth records from the 545,018 babies born in California in 2004, representing 52,589 different names, according to Live Science. Oliver and his team counted unique spellings so Sophia and Sofia were considered two separate names. They then matched the names with California neighborhoods, and, using voting records,  each neighborhood was identified as being red or blue.

Oliver found that education plays a key role in baby names. Less-educated parents were more likely to pick unusual names. But while educated liberals opted for more obscure yet pre-existing names, like Atticus and Finnegan, those parents without a college education were more likely to opt for unusual spellings (e.g., Andruw instead of Andrew) or pick entirely new names.

How do the names of famous politicians stack up against these findings?

The Obama girls, Sasha and Malia, are definitely the names of liberals–both end in the feminine “a” sound and Malia has the “l” sound. The Bush girls are Barbara and Jenna. Barbara is traditional and has a hard “B” sound—definitely the name of a republican. Jenna could go either way. It has the “a” sound at the end but it’s a rather common name. Also, consider the kids of the conservative Palin family. Track, Trig, Bristol and Piper all have hard sounds. Willow, on the other hand, with its soft “L” sounds is definitely the name of a liberal.
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