Names with Class:
Education and Occupation as Determinants of Name Preferences
Among Polish Mothers
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Submission date: 2025-05-19
Final revision date: 2025-08-11
Acceptance date: 2025-09-15
Publication date: 2025-12-10
Polish Sociological Review 2025;232(4):385-406
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ABSTRACT
This paper examines the naming preferences of Polish mothers across different educational and
occupational groups. An online survey of 2,579 respondents asked mothers to rate the attractiveness of 25 male
and 25 female names. Exploratory factor analysis identified five name categories for each gender. Mean ratings by
education level and EGP class position were compared using one-way ANOVA. The results indicate that mothers
with higher levels of education and occupational status tended to prefer names rooted in Polish tradition—whether
already popular or experiencing a revival—while avoiding those considered outdated. In contrast, mothers with
lower levels of education and occupational status were relatively more favorable toward recently imported names.
Preferences for male names showed greater social differentiation than those for female names, supporting the view
that boys’ names more strongly reflect social background and parental cultural capital.