Same Name S.O.S.

By Kristen Hoverman
The Collegian

Have you ever walked across campus and heard your name called, only to turn around and respond and find out the person wasn’t talking to you?

If so, you are probably one of thousands of students suffering from an identity crisis because you share the same name with someone else.

The other day I was on Facebook writing a message to a friend when a friend request popped up. It turned out to be a guy from Ohio looking for a cousin named Kristen Hoverman and he thought that was me.

This was just another in a series of people who have confused me for ‘another Kristen.’ I was annoyed to the point of researching the popularity of my name.

According to the Social Security Web site, in 1984 my name was ranked 38 out of 50 of the most popular baby names.

That means 8,375 little girls born in 1984 have the same exact first name as me.

In the same year over 100,000 little girls were named Jennifer, Jessica or Ashley.

According to the Web site, Jennifer, Jessica and Ashley are now the top three girls’ names in the United States.

“There are two Jennifers I sit next to in one of my classes,” said junior Jennifer Williams. “There are lots of times where I turn around when I hear my name called.”

Williams said her name is very popular in Hollywood, mentioning stars like Jennifer Garner and Jennifer Lopez.

Boys have the same problem. Popular boys names include: Michael, Christopher and Matthew.

According to statistics, Michael has been the most popular boys’ name for 50 years, followed closely by Christopher and then Matthew.

“My middle name is John and in my linguistics class there were three Chrises,” said Chris Quintanilla, a broadcast journalism major.

“One time my professor called out “Chris John” and all three of us answered.”

Out of 20 people polled at Fresno State, 17 said they knew at least two Jennifers and 14 said they knew at least two Chrises.

Does having the same name as someone else affect us at all?

Psychologist Robert Needleman said it does.

A study published in the Journal of Education Psychology said sixth-graders' self-concept—how effective, attractive and valued they felt—-was related to the “desirability of their first names.” Children with desirable first names scored higher on standardized tests.

Needleman said “the study offered one possible interpretation: that teachers expect children with more popular names to do better and so, over time, those positive expectations translate into actual higher levels of achievement.”

“It used to be confusing, people describe me by my first name,” Quintanilla said. “But I think my name is so popular now that it’s losing its uniqueness.”

It could be said that Kristen is unique in comparison to the top 10 names in the U.S., because the odds of bumping into another Kristen Rose are slim when Jennifers, Jessicas and Ashleys surround you.

In the words of William Shakespeare, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

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