23 Oct Charlie and Ella deemed the naughtiest children in Essex
Charlie and Ella have been revealed as the naughtiest names amongst children in the East of England, whilst children named Noah and Grace are considered to be the most well behaved, according to new research amongst children, parents and teachers in the region.
Children and teachers agree that Charlies are the most likely to misbehave in the region, with a quarter of those researched claiming children with the moniker are the naughtiest. Teachers also admit to expecting them to be unkind to their classmates.
When it comes to girls, it’s Ellas that teachers and parents associate most strongly with mischief, although girls’ names generally are considered to be less naughty then boys names. Ella ranks at number eight on the complete list.
Interestingly, it’s girls named Isabella that children in the region expect to be the naughtiest, demonstrating the differing opinions between the generations.
When it comes to well behaved children, boys named Noah top the list in the East of England, according to the research commissioned by My Nametags (https://www.mynametags.com), a leading manufacturer of durable sticker and iron-on name labels.
It’s Grace that comes out on top of the behaviour chart for girls, with just four percent of those surveyed in the region expecting children with this name to be misbehaved.
Boys named Noah are also considered to be shyest in the class, with their peers agreeing children with this name tend to be amongst the most introverted.
By contrast, those named Sophia are seen as the most confident girls in the region, with none of the children surveyed considering them to be shy. For boys, it’s Leos who are assumed to be the most self-assured.
Chartered Clinical Psychologist and Scientist, Linda Blair, explains why these stereotypes exist: “In today’s information-rich world, we’re exposed to far more data than we can deal with at any given moment. To help sort through this avalanche, we form stereotypes about what people will be like based on only a few easily obtained facts such as facial expression, body posture and a person’s name.
“Rather than making judgments about others scientifically – taking a dispassionate look at everyone called Noah or Isabella, for example – we create our stereotypes using just the people we know, as well as those we think we know via social and other media.
“Once we’ve formed a stereotype, it becomes fixed in our minds because of a phenomenon known as ‘confirmatory bias’. This is when we look for and remember people who match up to the stereotype we’ve formed, while at the same time ignoring information that doesn’t fit. This is why we become so convinced our stereotypes are correct. For popular names, these stereotypes are likely to be at the forefront of our minds because most of us will already know or have read about someone called Jack, Harry or Emily – and we’re quite likely to meet more of them.”
The study, which analysed the opinions of 1,500 teachers, children and parents in the UK, found that Brits are quick to make assumptions about a child based on their first name, with strong stereotypes associated with each of the names featured in this year’s top 20 baby names list.1
