No, this isn't about me, but my name.

There was a short piece in the NYTimes on Sunday that contained this:

Take Casey. People classify male Caseys as more feminine than Johns or Jacobs and female Caseys as more masculine than Sarahs or Susans. That's not all bad: masculine names are often associated with success, for instance, which might explain why parents historically chose androgynous names for girls. As for boys, Mehrabian says that today "some traditionally feminine characteristics may be seen as desirable in men, like caring and giving." Given the desirability of those traits, at least for some, parents may be less shy about naming a boy Brooke, Taylor or Morgan than in previous decades, when the "feminine" connotations of those names might have come at a social cost - the potential loss of status, jobs or friends.

So that's me- caring and giving because of my name. It's too bad, I could've parlayed my flexible fingers into a pitching career if I just had a more masculine name.

Here's the thing, after some reflection- I believe I've met more girl Caseys than boys, and the top results for individuals on Google are female, HOWEVER, according to the always-fun NameVoyager, there've always been more boy Caseys than girls (although in the 90s it was very close).

So how's this for a theory- if the name Casey has a gender-centering effect as claimed in the article, female Caseys stand out more, seek publicity, and excel on the world stage. Meanwhile, male Caseys are introspective healers who are content with a strong woman and a simple life. Maybe?

Well, stereotypes don't have to govern individuals, but I'm still glad to see my name in print.

Also, while researching this post, I discovered that several of the most famous first-name Caseys in history actually aren't named Casey, and instead got it as a nickname from their hometowns: Casey Jones from Cayce, Kentucky and Casey Stengel from Kansas City. Casey Kasem is also not an original Casey, but I can't figure out where he got his- maybe just a desire for alliteration.

Between those three being assumed-Caseys and Casey Affleck's middle name being Casey, I'm really not sure who the most famous non-fiction male with the first name Casey is. I guess that means the bar is low for me.

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