Walter Jankowski Assignment 2A Rhetorical Reflection Section HB McGough October 4, 2013 Depicting an Identity: Whats in a Name?

? Does a persons name say something about the person they are? Do people judge others based on their name alone? Many people would like to say that they arent judgmental, but what do people think when they hear certain names? In the article Trading Up: Where Do Baby Names Come From? Stephen J. Dubner talks about the relationship between trending names and wealth. No matter where the argument is published or who is in the audience, the arguments are just as relevant to the audience. (Convergences 118-123) Levitt and Dubner, coauthors of Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, argue that popularity of names flows down the socioeconomic ladder over time. They give examples of the most popular names among wealthy families during one decade compared to low end families and then show the next decade. The lists show that from one decade to the next many low end families strove to be like the rich people next door or the family that always has the newest car; whether they consciously named their children names that those families liked, the trends show that they did. This article is just as important to college students who read it out of a text book as any married couple expecting a baby. The article is significant not only because it introduces the trends in naming to its readers but also because it makes college students, who are future parents, more aware of why they are choosing certain names. Not every college student will end up having a child, but many of them will. For those that dont, the article shows an interesting relationship between socioeconomic trends. The concept presented by Levitt and Dubner in the article are relevant to the college students reading it just as much as the original adult audience. Connections between socioeconomic classes show that lower class individuals strive to set up their children for a better life by giving them names, which in their minds, are associated with wealth and success. This concept has proven to be accurate over many decades and will continue to happen in future generations.

Work Cited Levitt, Steven D., and Stephen J. Dubner. Trading up: Where do Baby Names Come From? Convergences: Themes, Texts, and Images for Composition. Ed. Robert Atwan. Boston: Bedford/St.Martins, 2009. pp 118-123.