Top 20 White/Black Names Affecting Job Applicants

Sept. 21, 2006 — Studies of resumes have found that people with black-sounding names are less likely to get callbacks.

"20/20" put 22 pairs of names to the test, posting identical resumes except for the names at the top.

The resumes with the white-sounding names were actually downloaded 17 percent more often by job recruiters than the resumes with black-sounding names.

What are some of those names? Here's a list from the book "Freakonomics," by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, showing the top 20 whitest- and blackest-sounding girl and boy names.

20 "Whitest" Girl Names

Molly
Amy
Claire
Emily
Katie
Madeline
Katelyn
Emma
Abigail
Carly
Jenna
Heather
Katherine
Caitlin
Kaitlin
Holly
Allison
Kaitlyn
Hannah
Kathryn

20 "Blackest" Girl Names

Imani
Ebony
Shanice
Aaliyah
Precious
Nia
Deja
Diamond
Asia
Aliyah
Jada
Tierra
Tiara
Kiara
Jazmine
Jasmin
Jazmin
Jasmine
Alexus
Raven

20 "Whitest" Boy Names

Jake
Connor
Tanner
Wyatt
Cody
Dustin
Luke
Jack
Scott
Logan
Cole
Lucas
Bradley
Jacob
Garrett
Dylan
Maxwell
Hunter
Brett
Colin

20 "Blackest" Boy Names

DeShawn
DeAndre
Marquis
Darnell
Terrell
Malik
Trevon
Tyrone
Willie
Dominique
Demetrius
Reginald
Jamal
Maurice
Jalen
Darius
Xavier
Terrance
Andre
Darryl