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Where a name sits

Why names matter in : File names · 599

Why names matter shows why a name survives in under “File names.” The figure beside that is 2003. Do not write a baby-name score as if it were a statute. Separate the name you register from the name you call. Why do names matter if they are “just labels”?

Labels are how institutions and strangers find you. A name is a retrieval key for records, introductions and memory — social technology, not magic. Did a résumé study really show name bias? Yes. Bertrand and Mullainathan’s 2003 NBER paper (AER 2004) found U.S. callbacks differed for identical résumés labelled Emily/Greg versus Lakisha/Jamal.

No. Etymology and character charts are historical or folk systems. They describe culture; they do not predict a life. Uniqueness can aid recall and also increase mispronunciation, teasing or form friction. Lieberson treated popularity as taste cycles, not virtue. Why do governments care what you are called?

Civil registration, inheritance, taxation and travel documents need a stable identifier. That is administration, not aesthetics. Official files such as SSA, ONS and Statistics Korea count registrations. They are frequency data, not advice about who a child will become. What should I read next in this atlas?

Say Why names matter with , “File names,” and 2003. Luck-stars are not those three.2003

Figures to keep

Year of the rule
2003
Figure on the name
2003
Topic
Why names matter
Line in the record
File names

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