If you want to head a goliath, be called David
The secret that has eluded lawyers for so long - that vital attribute that will help them make partner - has been revealed.
Forget commerciality or technical knowhow. Even social skills pale in comparison with the defining quality that is… being called David.
According to exclusive research for The Lawyer, David is the most popular partner name at the top 50 firms, accounting for just over 5 per cent of the 7,098 partners in the 44 firms in that group that are LLPs.
The second most popular male name is Andrew, followed by Michael, Richard and Simon, while the most popular female partner names in descending order are Sarah, Catherine, Susan, Helen and Elizabeth.
“If you want your child to become a lawyer, choose one of these names,” commented Derek Klyhn, partner and director at Møller PSF Group at the University of Cambridge, who led the research. He also said their predominance suggests elitism.
“They’re all pretty much traditional white, middle-class names,” he said.
But David Morley, senior partner at Allen & Overy, denied unfair advantage.
“I suspect it’s a function of age - David was a popular name when I was born in the 1950s,” he told The Lawyer.
The most popular names are as follows:
Male
1 David
2 Andrew
3 Michael
4 Richard
5 Simon
6 John
7 Paul
8 Christopher
9 Mark
10 Peter
Female
1 Sarah
2 Catherine
3 Susan
4 Helen
5 Elizabeth
6 Jane
7 Caroline
8 Anne
9 Alison
10 Nicola
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Readers' comments (16)
Benny | 28-Sep-2010 2:16 pm
What tosh. Obviously "traditional white, middle-class names” are going to be prevalent in any large sample of British professionals. It doesn't make having such a name more likely to lead to being a partner at all.
Derek Klyhn's comment assigns causality where there is none, and thus displays a total ignorance of the basic principles of research.
You may as well say: "Our survey discovered that most lawyers have brown hair - therefore dye your hair brown if you want to be a lawyer."
Complete idiocy.
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Traycee | 28-Sep-2010 4:50 pm
This must be the most ridiculous piece of research ever carried out, who cares about a name as long as you can do the job, surely that is of utmost importance.
@ CityGent - snob, I bet you're named Wayne
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City Gent | 28-Sep-2010 5:13 pm
@ Traycee
If your name is indeed a version of `Traycee' I fully understand your sensitivity!
Not surprisingly absent from the list of female names, along with your natural twin, Sharon.
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Anonymous | 29-Sep-2010 10:55 am
Benny, maybe you're taking it all a bit too seriously. I imagine it's just supposed to be an amusing little piece. But perhaps The Lawyer could do some research on whether you have to have a sense of humour to become a partner.
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Precocious talent | 30-Sep-2010 3:01 pm
@ City Gent
I assume that as you are trying to score points on grammar and insulting people based on class that you're one of these new money types who thinks an education from a minor public school makes you something?
People like you ultimately fail because they're too arrogant to notice their faults. It is very entertaining watching the demise though.
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Mark Brandon | 4-Oct-2010 11:27 am
I helped Derek interpret the data and want to come to his defence as regards his light-hearted/ironic comment on names (which was clearly far too ironic for some of the commentators here!)
The incidence of names was not the main focus of the research, but an amusing side-bar, which has caught the headlines. The main article in the Lawyer drew attention to the main point of interest, which was the gender-split as regards age of resignations and average working 'life' at the top firms.
Unfortunately - and such is the peril of online - the two pieces are not linked on this site, and the other piece is difficult to access, but I would recommend you read it. Here's the link:
http://www.thelawyer.com/revealed-top-uk-firms-make-poor-showing-in-female-partner-stakes/1005590.article
The main piece has also been picked up by womeninlaw.com
Lawyer guys/gals, if you're reading this, can you stick the link at the bottom of this article so that people can read the main piece? Ta!
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