Using Big Data to name Marissa Mayer's baby
If the goal is to promote the Yahoo brand, the data points to a clear choice for the Mayer-Bogue baby
Congratulations to Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and her husband Zachary Bogue who welcomed their first child, a baby boy, into the world on Sunday. As I write this the baby has not yet, so far as I know, been named; in fact, Mayer has invited friends to suggest names, meaning they are (sort of) crowdsourcing the naming of their baby! No word on whether they’ve started a Kickstarter campaign for his college fund.
Many have already jumped in the pool, suggesting clever names for the lad. I’d like to take a different approach, one based on Big Data. Big Data, it’s been pointed out recently, can be used for all sorts of things like protecting troops on the battlefield, telling football coaches when to go for it on fourth down and ensuring sustainable sushi. So why not use it to pick a name for the Mayer/Bogue baby?
Some have already turned to data to pick a name, in particular one that will result in a good outcome for the baby. But, really, is that the right outcome to focus on? This kid has already hit the lottery with these parents and should have every opportunity to succeed in life, whatever his name.
Instead, how about using data to pick a name that will resonate with as many of Yahoo’s target users as possible? Mayer, after all, was hired away from Google in July to breath new life into Yahoo. What better opportunity to generate some positive buzz for the company then the naming of the new CEO’s new baby?
Let’s start with popular names. According to the Social Security Administration, the top five names for baby boys in the U.S. in 2011 were: Jacob, Mason, William, Jayden and Noah. Delightful names, all.
But do we just want the most popular name? In the book Freakonomics, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner find that baby names are correlated with their parents’ socioeconomic status. So how about names that correlate with more well off families (i.e., those with more money to spend on Yahoo Shopping or who may be more valuable to those using Yahoo search marketing)?
Dubner and Levitt found that the most common boys name with both high-income and high-education white parents was Benjamin. Hmm. Benjamin was also the 19th most popular boys name in the U.S. in 2011, not to mention the #1 name in Argentina in 2011, #3 in Finland, #4 in Liechtenstein, #7 in Canada, and #9 in New Zealand, among other places. Now we’re talking!
I think the choice of a first name is now clear.
Now, for a middle name, I’d say we think more internationally. So how about a name that will resonate in, say, China (lots of people there, quickly growing economy, etc.). The top surname in China in 2007 was Wang, shared by around 93 million people. They might take notice if Yahoo’s new CEO names her baby after them, right?
I think we now have our middle name.
So, we’re done? Not quite. This kid is basically internet royalty. Royals, you may have noticed, tend to have several middle names. How about adding one more name that might win over a few million more hearts and minds? Based in the data, I have a good one.
Huh, you say? Well, consider that it was the third most popular boys name in India in 2011, and - shocker - it was the most popular boys name in the Arab world as a whole, including being #1 in Iran, Libya, Jordan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and the UAE. Again, we’re thinking outside the box here to build global brand awareness.
So, put it all together and you have... (drum roll, please)....
Benjamin Wang Mohammed Mayer Bogue
I can almost smell Yahoo stock rising as I type this.
To me, this is the obivous choice. But, hey, if this doesn’t sit well with Mayer and her husband, they can always go with Jacob, a perfectly nice name for a future CEO, but, you know... (yawn).