The most common names of leaders

Are you named John, Michael, or Jennifer, or had bosses with these names?

Our names give people the first impression about us, but do they also affect our career prospects?

A recent analysis by resume.io found that “John” is the most successful name in the American business world, as the name most frequently appearing at the top of the corporate ladder.

Meanwhile, “Jennifer” is the only female name that made it through the male-dominated list.

*While the survey was conducted in the US, HRO believes it is interesting to share the results with our readership in Asia.

The study has examined 3,046 LinkedIn profiles from the US, focusing specifically on individuals in leadership roles, to identify names commonly associated with executive and presidential positions within companies.

The researchers have reviewed profiles with titles such as CEO, COO, CTO, CFO, President, Vice President, Director, and Manager. The results have also been segmented by gender to evaluate disparities in leadership representation.

As a result, “John” was revealed to be the most common name among CEOs and senior leadership positions overall in America, followed by “Michael” and “David”.

The top 10 most common names in senior leadership positions:

Evidently, the list was dominated by male names, with “Jennifer” being the only female name in the top 10. This underscored the significant imbalance in gender representation among the highest levels of corporate success.

This is supported by the overall data in the research that only one-third (36%) of the profiles analysed are women, revealing that a staggering 64% of corporate leadership positions in the US are held by men.

The most common female names in senior leadership positions:

While at most positions, from CEOs to managers, male names remain the majority; however, a notable exception was at the Director level, where “Kim” takes the lead as the most common name, implying progress in breaking through barriers.

The most prevalent names across senior leadership positions:

CEO: “John”
CFO: “Michael”
COO: “John”
CTO: “John”
President: “Michael”
Director: “Kim”
Manager: “David”