Did Your Name Determine Your Career?

It's a question that goes back at least as far as Shakespeare: What's in a name? And are our names our destinies? What jobs should we have based on our names? Well, regardless how you feel about fate, an infographic from Verdant Labs can tell you which names are disproportionately common for which profession, so you can see which career you were really supposed to have all along — or perhaps more accurately, which career your parents were trying to steer you toward.

According to an infographic Verdant Labs put together, you should feel very jealous of all the Eddies out there; apparently Mom and Dad wanted them to be stunt men. I'll bet their moms let them try riding their bikes on the roof and everything.

The infographic lists over three dozen different professions and the six names that are most disproportionately likely to have said profession. It's not a measure of which names are most common in each field or even what the most common job is for people with each name, but rather which job is most unusually common for people with each name. For example, they explain, "a higher percentage of Elwoods are farmers than of most any other name." And apparently the percentage of Luigis who are racecar drivers is higher than the percentage of racecar drivers among most other names — which makes sense when you think about it. What else are you going to do if you're named Luigi? Except maybe become a plumber, I guess. But from what I can tell, that involves a lot of mortal peril.

Predictably for many of the professions, there's a clear gender imbalance. All the names listed for car salesmen, for instance, are traditionally male names, while all the names listed for social workers are traditionally female. In some categories, the gender imbalance is even more surprising. Five of the six most disproportionately common names for both surgeons, lawyers, and venture capitalists are male, so, too, are all of the names for songwriters. Meanwhile, women's names dominate for jobs like librarian and fitness instructor. Not bad jobs, of course, but they're not really breaking down gender stereotypes.

In some places, though, things are more equal than you'd expect. For instance, "Judy" ranks as one of the top names for ranchers. And although most of the science-related positions are mostly or entirely male dominated, four of the six names for biologists are female. Plus, half of the disproportionately common names for hair dressers are male. Apparently Roberts cut hair. Who knew?

As for me, I've discovered that my true calling in life was apparently to be a historian. You know, as professions go, it's not half bad. At the very least, it could be worse — my parents could have named me Mitzi and sent me off to become an accountant.

You can check out the full infographic here, and even if your name isn't listed, never fear! Verdant Labs also has an app called Nametrix that can help you with all sorts of name-related needs.

Image: Giphy