What’s in a name? A rose by any other name could smell as sweet—but it might not sell as well. If you’ve created a brand under your own name, you could be winning (or losing) based on the sound and familiarity of your name alone.
A recent survey compiled by the social media giant LinkedIn reports that people with certain first names are more likely to rise to CEO positions, and the trends are different for women than for men.
Among men, the most common first names for global CEOs are Peter, Bob, Jack, Bruce, and Fred. Female CEOs, on the other hand, most often have the first names Deborah, Sally, Debra, Cynthia, and Carolyn.
In other industries, different names are prevalent: short names in sales, longer names among engineers and food professionals. What does this mean about your success if you have a name that doesn’t fit into the “norm” for your industry? Nothing… necessarily. But if, by chance, you do have a name that is common for successful experts in your field, then you’re already one step ahead of the crowd when it comes to branding.