Your name = your future?

I've mentioned my interest in the psychology of names. The Romans had a saying, nomen est omen, which means "names are destiny." In one famous American test, the exact same essays signed with with odd names (Elmer, Rupert, Edith, Sybyl) scored significantly lower than those signed with more regular names (Thomas, Brian, Susan, Barbara).

Experienced political campaign advisers know well how a candidates name can make the difference at the polling station, independent of platform or promised ideals. Most people who rather be ruled by a Richard than an Egbert. Of course, none of this is rigidly scientific. But anecdotal evidence is not the same as no evidence.

Have you ever noticed that someone in the news has a name that uncannily fits the event that made it he headlines to begin with? Yes, much of it is random luck, but I seem to notice a lot of random luck going around:

* The first man to be released from prison (from Death Row, in his case) because of exonerating DNA evidence is named Kirk Noble Bloodsworth.
* An Australian feminist theologian who writes about "God's feminine side" is named Dr. Carol Christ.
* The now-deceased head of the Catholic Church in the Phillipines was Cardinal Sin.
* Dr. David Precious of Halifax, Nova Scotia, is a dentist specializing in cleft palate repair.
* The California spokesman for the Minutmen Project (the volunteeer group tracking and documenting the flood of illegal aliens entering the US from Mexico) is named Jim Chase.

Add your own to the list. Pay attention to the news more closely and you'll notice what I'm talking about.