This is kind of neat: It charts political donations by first names (including all names appearing 25 or more times in the databases of contributors to the two major-party presidential candidates), trying to also sort by gender. It shows some definite patterns in names that lean one way or another. There even are differences between full names and nicknames (i.e., Christopher leans Republican while Chris leans Democrat). Obviously, this somewhat maps onto the gender divide between the parties (since women lean Democrat). It probably also maps onto ethnic divides, as some first names are more common in racial or ethnic groups that lean one way.
The article includes a search function, so have fun looking for your name and your friends’/family’s names. For my part: Howard leans slightly Democrat (52 %-48%), while Jennifer/Jen (my wife) and Lillian/Lily (my daughter) all were overwhelmingly Democrat.
Posted by Howard Wasserman on October 5, 2012 at 09:31 AM