If a recent study is to be believed, every extra letter in a person’s first name may reduce his or her annual salary by US$3,600.
To reach the C-Suite, try shortening your name to Pat, Tim or Jen.
According to a study by online job matching site TheLadders, every extra letter in a person’s first name may reduce his or her annual salary by up to US$3,600.
If the report is to be believed, the Jonathans in the world would do well to call themselves John if they want to raise their net worths, said Amanda Augustine from TheLadders.
TheLadders tested 24 pairs of names—Steve and Stephen, Bill and William, and Sara and Sarah, and in all but one case those with shorter names earned more. The sole exception was Larry and Lawrence, where the longer name had a higher pay.
The research is based on finding a linear trend in data from six million members, with 3.4% of them in C-level jobs. The study revealed that eight of the 10 top names for male C-suite jobs had five letters or less, and they earned on average 10% more than others in similar jobs.
According to John L. Cotton, professor of management at Marquette University, leaders who go with a nickname may seem less intimidating and “more human”. He has studied the perception of names in hiring, but says that he is wary of TheLadders’ findings since it is not a “typical sample”, in a report by Quartz.
