Another old naming rule that’s now gone, thanks to recent research, is the notion that your Child’s name should clearly denote his or her sex. The old idea was that if you gave your child a sexually ambiguous name (like Robin, Lee, Dana, or Harper), he or she would have trouble establishing a sexual identity and would likely suffer serious psychological problems (a phenomenon Known as “the boy – named- Sue syndrome”).

This notion has now been discarded. In his carefully controlled studies of Wesleyan University students reported in 1980, Dr Zweigenhaft compared students with sexually ambiguous or misleading names (such as Dana, Leslie, and Ronnie) with students whose names were decidedly masculine or feminine. All the students had taken the California Psychological Inventory (CPI), which tests psychological health on eighteen scales. Students with unisex names were just as psychologically health as students whose names clearly denote their sex. As matter of fact, girls with sexually ambiguous names scored higher than other girls on “capacity for status,” whereas boys with unisex names scored higher than other boys on the “well – being” and “good impression” scales. Dr. Zweigenhaft’s conclusions are very clear. He writes, “There is no evidence in these data to support the dire predictions for the “boy- named – Sue syndrome.” Case closed.

What about naming your son after his father with “Jr.” attached? Research has generally shown this isn’t such a good Idea. Most studies have found boys intensely dislike being given their father’s name (although Dr. Busse did find in one study that boys named for their fathers liked their names and also got along well with other boys). Dr.Zweigenhaft found in his 1980 studies that juniors scored significantly lower than other boys on a number of psychological measures, including capacity for status, well- being, responsibility, tolerance, and intellectual efficiency.

It’s important to remember, of course, that such findings are for all juniors on average. Any one specific junior (Yours, for example) may actually score way above other boys in these areas. If you do name a son junior, the most important thing is to make sure your son has a sense of individuality. Thus, if a boy is named Thomas Jones, Jr., it’s advisable to give him a distinctive nickname (like T.J. for example) to emphasize the fact that he’s still unique and special.

Intriguingly, when Dr. Zweigenhaft looked at the psychological scores of boys named after their fathers, but whose junior status was designated with Roman numerals rather Jr., (as in John Smith II or John Rockefeller ), he found these boys were as well adjusted as boys not named for their fathers. Dr Zwegenhaft speculates that a boy with aII, III, or IV after his name may see himself as one link in a long chain of respected, admirable high achievers, and may therefore see himself as quite special. “In contrast,” he writes, “the person with Jr. attached to his name may or may not be part of a long line. His title reminds us, and him, that he is younger, most likely smaller (at least for the first 15 years of his life) and lesser in status than the real thing, the person he was named after.”

When you examine all the latest psychological findings about names, one fact becomes obvious: you needn’t worry about making some dreadful blunder when naming your baby. The latest scientific research has shown that choosing a name for your child is a lot less perilous and hence a lot more fun than psychologists of the past believed.