The Perceived Power of a Name

“She’s acting like such a Karen.”

There are names that are hard to say, names that are easy to make fun of. And then there are names that go viral. Like mine.

You know the meme – we’ve all seen those videos of a middle-aged woman (usually a White woman) throwing a tantrum in a grocery store, demanding to talk to the manager, or threatening to call the cops when she is the real aggressor. These “Karens” are known for escalating normal situations and focusing unnecessary attention on people of color. It’s not a good look – and it’s often one with deep, racist undertones.

As a Black woman named Karen (and on behalf of other Karens in the world!), it makes me cringe to see the name turned into a meme that stands for entitlement, bigotry, and discrimination. But it has also allowed me to reflect more deeply about the perception of someone’s given name and the unfair ways it can define their personal and professional life. If our names tell a story, they don’t always tell a story everyone wants to hear.

I’ve seen and experienced this personally. My parents faced stigma for their own unique names. So did my in-laws. Even now, so have my children.

We receive our names as a source of pride, a reflection of our culture, and an extension of our family identity. Yet so often, many of us wish we could shorten them, change them, or use something more familiar and easier to say. The reasons can be complex – especially given the fluidity of identity in today’s world – and sometimes even practical.

A famous study in 2003 revealed that “White-sounding” names got 50% more callbacks for job interviews compared to candidates with “Black-sounding” names. Since then, diversity and inclusion have become a core part of the mission for many companies. But we are still grappling with the way something so personal and intrinsic to your identity can be part of the larger problems of discrimination and bias.

Two decades later, even as companies are utilizing technology to evaluate candidates on their merit and curb human prejudice, name-related bias is still prevalent. In a 2021 study, economists from the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Chicago sent 83,000 job applications to 108 Fortune 500 employers. Half of the submissions had traditionally White-sounding names, such as Emily or Greg, while the other half used distinctively Black-sounding names, such as Jamal or Lakisha.

Applicants with Black names were called back 10% fewer times across the board, despite having similar applications to their White counterparts. It’s clear that even when we seek to hire the best, our unconscious biases can be problematic. Not only does this limit the opportunities for talented candidates, but it undermines the interests of organizations looking to hire the best people.

When my Polish Jewish in-laws arrived in this country, they westernized their surname (trimming the common “ski” ending) in an attempt to integrate more easily in America and preempt discrimination in the job and housing markets. It’s hard to believe that people would give up something so personal to their identity to avoid bigotry. And yet, many Americans from different backgrounds have done exactly that to stay safe and create a better life for the next generation.

Yet, when my husband and I had our own biracial kids, I was adamant that we choose names that acknowledged their Black heritage. We named our daughter Marley and our son Zuri.

These names didn’t always automatically roll off the tongue. Especially Zuri’s. I admit, for several years I had to force myself not to call my son by his middle name, Andrew. Call it unconscious bias – or simply the realization that in our society, certain names can work against us.

At ServiceNow , our global talent workforce goes through inclusive hiring training, which helps create a more consistent and structured candidate assessment process. We’re also leveraging technology to help us create realistic hiring scenarios that ensure we reduce bias in the hiring journey and build awareness so that people are trained to see beyond a name. Incorporating this virtual reality tool into our recruiting efforts helps our hiring managers become accountable for fostering a sense of belonging with job candidates, even before they meet for the first time.

So, what’s in a name? Answer: a lot! Names contain our stories and our triumphs…our biases and our blind spots. Let’s approach others with curiosity and grace, embracing each name and the rich stories they tell.?

To my LinkedIn community – what’s your “name story”? I would love to hear your experience in the comments below!