‘Bogan’ baby names could damage a child’s future career prospects

Parents to be, take note

Names like John and Mary are being replaced by increasingly odd monikers (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Non-traditional baby names could have an impact on your child’s future career prospects, according to an Australian author.

It’s something that parents agonise over and an increasing number give their children unusual, or unique names.

But, one author is now suggesting that giving your baby a rare name can actually impede its chances of future employment, the Daily Mail reports.

Author of The Little Book of Bogan Baby Names, Sabrina Rogers-Anderson revealed in a recent podcast that employers have told her of their aversion to hiring someone with a ‘bogan’ baby name – a term widely used in Australia and New Zealand that has been likened to the British word ‘chav'.

A trend that she believes is down to parents wanting to give their child a sense of individuality, Rogers-Anderson says society’s obsession with standing out is ‘crippling'.

“People are really trying to set their child apart, in an online world where we're trying to brand our kids, whether it might be their Facebook page name or their Twitter handle or their website name,” she said.

“People really want their child to stand out and John and Mary isn't good enough any more.”

She goes on to explain how this has instigated the spelling of simple names to become unnecessarily complicated such as Jackson becoming Jakxsen.

“A child having to spell their name every day of their life, it's really crippling. It's really awful for them,” she Rogers-Anderson explained.

For her book, the author collated more than 200 ‘bogan’ names as well as their meaning with a focus on ‘completely made up names’ that people have mashed together.

These include monikers like J’Zayden, a combination of favourites Jayden and Zaiden.

As well as Nicomachus, Harleen and Braelyn.

Earlier this year, online recourse BabyCentre supported Rogers-Anderson’s claims with a list of 36 once-popular names that are risk of extinction in 2017.

Among the boys names which are falling out favour are Dean, Derek, Geoffrey, Neville and Wayne.

While it seems Debra, Diane, Paula and Sally are becoming less and less common for girls.