It appears that young German “Kevins” are a few generations behind any American trends.
According to research conducted on the German online dating site eDarling, online browsers do not even bother to open the profiles of users whose names look foreign to German eyes such as Kevin. In fact, it is not just that they are foreign but there are certain meanings attached to certain names. It seems that, from the research, names like Kevin indicate a person who smokes, neglects himself, has less education and has low self respect.
A report on “Kevinism” in a German newspaper quotes a German sociologist who asserts that both English and American names such as Angelina, Mandy and Justin are quite low class. It appears that no one has actually gathered the data to prove this, but joking comments such as the links drawn between druggies and east enders and the name Kevin make the suggestion there is something meaningful in a name.
It appears quite possible that the fact that German “Kevins” who smoke and lack education has a great deal to do with background and the name.
In brief, name is a signal not a cause, of difference. There might be a similar division between Kevin and Alexander, the latter being the most positive name suggested in the German study.
The researchers left out all non-white names to prevent racial bias in their data but the socioeconomic problems were not really addressed. While the research paper indicates it has some control of economic class, income reporting in online dating profiles is, it appears, to be quite unreliable.
It also makes use of a person’s individual income and not the parental income, which would certainly be is a better indication of the socioeconomic class a person grew up in and therefore the name they were given.
Maybe, if you are not successful at dating through online dating sites it might not be your job, your income or your age but quite simply just your name.
