The High Court Judge Test

[Snowball789]

is, I know, just a way of making sure that a name we are considering works for an adult as well as a baby/child but it made me wonder what High Court judges were actually called and if names can lead to success. Result? Awful! Yawn-inducing! Bleh! Women come off slightly better than the men (names posted below). I suppose this is because the popularity of names goes in cycles and three quarters of High Court judges are in their sixties and seventies when society was more rigid and less diverse. It is clear that no High Court judges are called Krystal or Rainbow Moon-buggy (the traditional spelling) but none of them are called Isabella, Olivia or Ted either for the previously stated reason. So I think the ‘test’ doesn’t quite work, particularly as there are a couple of Nigels, a Gary, a Neil and a Beverley which I wouldn’t have pegged as High Court judges. I have a ‘classic’ first name that would easily pass the ‘test’ combined with a relatively common surname and yet when I was in my late teens I discovered that I had exactly the same name (including spelling) as a woman who ran a multi-million pound porn empire – oh, so maybe the test does work after all, as she was extremely successful in her chosen field!

I wonder if in 2035 some High Court judges will be called Charlene, Tiffany or Dwayne? And in 2065 I am sure there will be a Grace or an Oliver but perhaps there will also be a Brittney or a Kai. Just as important, I hope at least 50% will be female.

[Snowball789]

As at 14 December 2015 there were 109 High Court Judges and they had the following first names:

Female (19%)
Elisabeth x 2
One each of the following: Alison, Anna, Beverley, Bobbie, Frances, Geraldine, Ingrid, Jennifer, Judith, Juliet, Kathryn, Laura, Lucy, Mary, Maura, Nicola, Phillipa, Sarah Sonia, Susan and Vivien.

Male (81%)
Andrew x 7
Peter x 6
Nicholas x 5
Stephen x 5
David x 3
James x 3
Jeremy x 3
Michael x 3
Timothy x 3
William x 3
Alastair x 2
George x 2
Henry x 2
John x 2
Mark x 2
Nigel x 2
Paul x 2
Richard x 2
Robert x 2
Robin x 2
Just one of each of the following: Alan, Anthony, Antony, Brian, Charles, Christopher, Clive, Colin, Duncan, Gary, Gerald, Guy, Ian, Jonathan, Joseph, Julian, Launcelot, Neil, Philip, Rabinder, Roderic, Roderick, Ross, Simon and Wyn.

21% were born in the 1940s, 53% in the 1950s, 15% in the 1960s and 1 % in the 1970s. Birth dates were not readily available for the other 10%.

[AnnaMarlowe]

The high court judge test really just means "would you be surprised to meet a professional person with this name?"

So I'm pretty sure no one would blink at hiring an accountant, police officer or whatever called "Olivia" but "Maverick" (friend of a friend's DC) might raise some eyebrows.

[Walkingintheraindrops]

Interesting! Mainly that people bother thinking about this in case their child becomes a high court judge- one of the 109 out of 65,000,000 people in this country lol

[51shadesofgrey]

Bobbie (for a girl) doesn't pass the test and it's there. Yes, I think there will be Tiffany in the future. We'll have to wait and see. (Don't have one but have come across a lovely, intelligent, ambitious one).
Good thread btw

[SonyaAtTheSamovar]

There is an Amber in the government already.

[Pipistrella]

Can I respectfully suggest Condoleezza?

[SantasLittleMonkeyButler]

What 51shades said.

I'm sure somebody somewhere looked down their noses when baby Bobbie was named. It clearly hasn't stopped her becoming a High Court Judge.

Names are just names, they don't define a person. There could be a Judge Kayden in the future. You never know.

[LaurieFairyCake]

There's a high court judge called Launcelot

[LaurieFairyCake]

Bobbie will be short for Roberta which is a classic name

[ClashCityRocker]

See there's a few names on there that I would have thought are more working class, for want of a better word...or would have been at the time.

I work at an accountants and we are starting to see some of the more 'modern' names come through in the juniors who we usually take on at 19-21 years of age.

I still think J-Cub is going to struggle to be taken seriously, though. But then I think that anyone calling their child J-Cub probably wants them to grow up to be a hip hop star or something, so a high court career is probably not in the offing.

And launcelot? I wonder what would've happenedif his mum had been on MN at then time of birth.

[Goingtobeawesome]

I've met High Court Judge Johnathan. He was very very kind.

[BertrandRussell]

The vast majority of high court judges will have the same names as the main list in 2035, I guarantee it.

Because the sort of families who produce High Court Judges have always used names like those, still do and will still be doing so in 2035. And probably in 2065 as well.

[Walkingintheraindrops]

Bobby might just be Bobby. How would we know?!

Clive, Colin, Duncan and Gary are working class names. The point of the snobby name threads is they shun anything which isn't wannabe middle class.

[BertrandRussell]

And Bobbie was undoubtedly christened Roberta.g

[BertrandRussell]

I stand corrected- she was born into a Punjabi speaking family, so presumably Bobbie is either a Punjabi name or a transliteration.

[fakenamefornow]

Wow, you have thought about this haven't you. Thanks for doing this, it's really interesting. Do you think Beverly gets called Bev?

[Eigg]

Erm Walking how is Duncan a working class name? There was a King Duncan you know admittedly in the 11th century

Colin is also pretty Middle class.

[Cavaradossi]

I think it's disingenuous to think that the high court judge test is about whether a name works for an adult as well as a baby, when it's really a test of whether a name sounds sufficiently middle- or upper-middle-class.

Roll on the days when high court judges will be routinely called Fatima and Nevaeh-Mae.

[Cavaradossi]

The only judge I know is called Roger.

[Walkingintheraindrops]

Not in my background it's not eigg.

I agree with cavara

[BertrandRussell]

"Roll on the days when high court judges will be routinely called Fatima and Nevaeh-Mae."

Fatima, possibly- we do at last have a BAME High Court Judge.

But Nevaeh-May? Never in a million years.c

[Eigg]

Bertrand Well Neaveh-Mae could well become a high court judge but I'd be very surprised if she hadn't decided to call herself 'Mae' sometime previously.

I have a friend who has a very senior role. Her name was equivalent of Jenni-Lou. She goes by Jen professionally and has done since she was old enough to choose.

Of course we could all be wrong, names have always been subject to fashion. I look forward to seeing how things pan out in this area.

[Junosmum]

I found that really interesting snowball, thanks.

[SewSlapdash]

The judges I know are called Gerald, Stephen, Stephen, Andrew and Clare. It's really just a product of their respective ages - relatively normal names for the times at which each of them was born.

[BertrandRussell]

I feel very inadequate- I only know one judge. He's called John, by the way.