What’s in a name? Plenty, especially if your name is Ann Chovie, May O’Nays, or Robyn Banks. Studies show that having a silly name can negatively affect your chances of getting a job, as well as your overall financial success and status.
A new employment study by the Bitter Business Bureau demonstrated that job applicants with “normal” names were 10,000% more likely to get a callback than those with silly names. A job applicant with a silly name — Terry Dactyl, Lou Briccant, or Lynn Guini, for example — found it much harder to even get an interview, let alone a job.
Ben Dover, an unemployed Technical Writer, has had many painful experiences with discrimination because of his name. “They never respond to my resumes, and then when I call they just laugh and hang up on me,” says Dover. “And it’s the same with my wife, Eileen.”
But people with silly names are fighting back. A group of activists, including Emma Roids, Beau Vine, Hugh deMann, Jim Nasium, and Dan Druff, have banded together to form SPAZ (Silly, Proud, and Zealous), an organization dedicated to fighting silly name discrimination. Joining them will be Ellie Vader, Al Luminum, Gene Poole, Ann Tartica, Helen Hywater, Archie Pelagos, Pete Zaria, and Herbie Hind.
