According to a large-scale study in the US, people who go by nicknames tend to earn more money than their formally named counterparts. What’s more, shaving a single letter off your moniker could land you an extra $US150,000 over the course of your career. No really.
Business card picture from Shutterstock
How much “cachet” do first names hold? In a bid to find out, job search site TheLadders analysed more than 6 million names in its database and compared the results against each member’s annual salary. It found that for every extra letter in a person’s name there tended to be a $US3600 drop in income. Over a 40-year career, the corresponding loss in earnings can amount to nearly $US150,000.
Among high-ranking C-level executives, Bob was the most common name among males. In addition, four of the five highest-paid male names contained just four letters or less.
Meanwhile, the five top-paid names for women were Lynn, Melissa, Cathy, Dana, and Christine. The report notes that women were less likely to shorten their full names so as to “project a more professional image.”
The income anomaly also applied to nicknames, with people who went by shorter versions of their proper names (e.g. — Steve/Stephen, Bill/William, Debbie/Deborah) usually earning more money. It is thought that such abbreviated names are often used to denote a sense of friendliness and openness. Nicknames were found to be particularly effective in the creative industries such as acting or media.
These findings might seem dubious, but they’re backed up by an earlier study from business networking site LinkedIn. The site’s researchers analysed the top CEO names around the world and found that most of the highest earners either had short names or went by shortened versions of their proper name (Bill, Steve, etc.)
“However you choose to represent your name, make it consistent across every business channel, including your professional online profiles, resume, business cards, and email signature,” TheLadders report suggests.
“There’s no rule of thumb about using your nickname versus your proper name, but if the results of this study are any indication, ‘Christophers’ may want to consider going by ‘Chris’ professionally.” (On a side note, this hasn’t seemed to help me much. Tch.)
“In conclusion, it does make a difference what your mother named you. So, to all prospective mothers, our advice is to keep Baby’s name short and sweet – your child will thank you when they’re raking in the money one day.”
[Via Business Insider]
Comments
12 responses to “Cultivating A Nickname For Yourself Can Lead To A Significant Pay Rise”
Correlation does not imply causation … But if it does in this case.. I’m screwed. And I have two middle names.
I have to agree, Mick, there ain’t nothing you can do to shorten your name.
Just call me M, and give me a $10,000 pay rise already!!
I’ve had the same nickname since grade 3 and I don’t feel $150,000 richer..
So I should go with Sez on my resume instead of Sarah?
lol 😀
“I’m Jane” she said
“I’m Christopher,” he replied “but everyone calls me
Dick for short”
“How do you get Dick from Christopher?” she asked
“You just ask nicely” he replied
Shortening names might be a good idea, but not nouns. You mean “cachet” 😉
That would explain my side note.
Cultivate a nickname for more money eh? I’ve been known by the same nickname wherever I’ve worked and I don’t think I’ve earned more money as a result. Perhaps I should encourage people to call me something other than f*ckwit?
How do they pronounce the asterisk?
Not sure I would get a job if I presented myself as ChoasJester :p And for my nickname, it is already the shortened version of my name so to shorten it any further would be silly