Purpose – The paper seeks to examine how the uniqueness and ethnicity of first names influence affective reactions to those names and their potential for hire. Design/methodology/approach – In study 1, respondents evaluated 48 names in terms of uniqueness and likeability, allowing us to...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the hypothesis that Whiteness is used as a normative standard when comparing a variety of first names. Design/methodology/approach – Respondents (full- and part-time business students) evaluated names that sounded common, African-American,...