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Attention all expectant parents: you might want to take a quick read-through of this here article before you set that baby’s name in stone, because science has just thrown you a huge baby-naming bone. That’s right, researchers have just done you (and Santa, we should mention) a huge favor by identifying the names of the children who are most likely to be naughty. And nice — but seriously, if I had a bun in the oven right now, I’d be committing the naughty list to memory STAT!

A parenting magazine in the UK says that researchers looked at the behavior of 63,000 school-aged children to determine the monikers that seem to equate to the most mischief. I’ve seen the list, and I gotta tell you: a lot of us who have already birthed and named a kiddo or three are in big trouble! Maybe they should do a NEW study on a how name POPULARITY contributes to a child’s naughty behavior!

Of course, there are always exceptions to every rule: my oldest child’s name, Joshua, is on the naughty boys’ list, and he was the EASIEST baby, toddler, preschooler, school-ager, tween, and now teen. But he has a birthday coming up….let’s hope ages 15-18 aren’t in line with his name being tops on the naughty charts! EEK! Conversely, my daughter Sophie’s name is on the NICE list, and although she is rather nice at age twelve, she was a TERROR her first five years of life. Every single one of my gray hairs is also named Sophie. For real.

Ok, I know you’re dying to see if your little angels are on the list of worst behaved children names or best behaved children names, so without further adieu, here we go!

Naughty children names lists

Naughty Girls’ Names:

  • Ella (oh SNAP, I know a lot of Ellas!)
  • Bethany
  • Eleanor
  • Olivia (and also many Olivias!)
  • Laura
  • Holly
  • Courtney
  • Amber
  • Caitlin
  • Jade

Naughty Boys’ Names:

  • Joseph
  • Cameron
  • William
  • Jake
  • Joshua (my son!)
  • Jamie
  • Lewis
  • Benjamin
  • Ethan (my son’s BFF! Uh-oh…)
  • Luke

And now, for the nice lists…

Nice Girls’ Names:

  • Amy
  • Georgia
  • Emma
  • Charlotte
  • Grace
  • Sophie (my girl! So nice at 12, fingers crossed!)
  • Abigail
  • Hannah
  • Emily
  • Alice

Nice Boys’ Names:

  • Jacob
  • Daniel
  • Thomas
  • James 
  • Adam
  • Harry
  • Samuel
  • Jack (I know many sweet boys named Jack!)
  • Oliver
  • Ryan

All right, mamas! I am dying to know where your babies’ names fall on this scale! My youngest, Jonah, did not make the list, which is fitting as he’s totally a mix of his older two siblings when it comes to behavior, LOL! Leave us a comment and tell us if your babies names made the list, and which one!

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Jenny Rapson

Jenny Rapson is a follower of Christ, a wife and mom of three from Ohio and a freelance writer and editor. You can find her at her blog, Mommin' It Up, or follow her on Twitter.

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