What’s in a name? New parents might like to give their child a trendy name, but to play it safe, tried-and true names might get their children better grades in school.

A new study, run by scientists in Oldenburg/Germany, revealed that a student’s name can have an influence on the teacher’s grading criteria. The Educational Science Institute tested 200 elementary school teachers and their reactions to a student’s writing. Unbeknown to the teachers, each writing assignment came from the same student, but each signed with a different first name. Professor Astrid Kaiser stated that a piece of writing signed with the name Maximilian generally got a higher grade than one signed with Kevin.

The article Namensbezogene Vorurteile der Lehrer, based on the study,  listed the following first names as positive – Alexander, Maximilian, Simon, Lukas, Jakob, Katarina, Hannah, Emma, Marie and Sophie generated a higher grade.

Names with negative tendencies in regards to teachers’ prejudices were Marvin, Maurice, Cedric, Jaqueline, Angelina, Vanessa, Chantal, Mandy and Celina.

First names with a neutral reaction were Nick und Leon.

The Top 40 list of German first names, compiled in 2009, does not even include the name Kevin anymore.

A list of the most attractive-sounding names in Germany is Attraktive Vornamen.

A blog post in German, defying the correlation between name choice and educational level, tells how mother Mandy, 36 years old, gets upset at reactions over her son’s stigmatized name, Kevin. In the 70s and 80s, Mandy was a popular name in the Eastern part of Germany and Kevin became somewhat popular in Germany after the movie Kevin Alone at Home came out in the 90s.

Personally, I am glad we stuck to fairly classical names for both of our children. Our first-born arrived in Japan and as the doctor had told us to expect a girl, we had initially chosen the name Sophia. But then a son was born to us and we named him Thomas. Our second child, a daughter born in Frankfurt, we named Margo, the French version of Margaret. So far they both have been getting good grades. But they are not in the German school system, either.