Comments on: What’s in a name? Dennis the Dentist and Joe the Plumber

By: Rense Nieuwenhuis

Rense Nieuwenhuis — Thu, 27 May 2010 06:53:10 +0000

Thank you James, but keep in mind that I just pose an alternative theory (which I think is the more credible one), but do not provide any empirical material to support my claim. Also: I do believe that people are very easily steered: we’re constantly influenced by all kind of factors around us that shape our decisions. However, I do not believe that ‘Dennis gravitates towards Dentistry’.

By: James

James — Wed, 26 May 2010 14:26:40 +0000

A most excellent blog post. Thanks so much for helping discredit this theory — when I’d originally heard it proposed, I felt a deep sense of anguish at the notion that people could be so easily steered.

By: Emergency Dental Care

Emergency Dental Care — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 05:43:06 +0000

This is a very interesting finding of the name, dennis, with the profession, dentist.

By: Buford Dentist

Buford Dentist — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:39:38 +0000

What an interesting post you have!I like the idea that there are numbers of dentist whose name is actually Dennis, that’s kinda cool!

By: Rense Nieuwenhuis

Rense Nieuwenhuis — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:45:42 +0000

Yes it is, but:
a.) the difference between the expected and observed proportions is minute
b.) as I argue in this post, I doubt that causal inferences from this difference can be made, because it was not controlled for socio-economic status of the parents of the dentists (and other professions). Name-giving is socially determined / influenced.

By: dentist dc

dentist dc — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:22:17 +0000

It is very interesting that there are more Dennis the Dentist’s than there should be based on averages.