What else can name data tell us about 'deviants'? I decided to look at the data on the first, middle, and adopted names of serial killers in the United States. What if men of a certain personality - hyper-masculine, traditional, intimidating - named their sons after a hero of mid-century cinema, John Wayne? And what if these men were more likely to raise children who would exhibit criminal behaviors? I'm not going to draw any dramatic conclusions until I can look at real data and sift through the complicated links between predictive factors for criminal behavior, but some theories have come to mind. Family relationships, class, financial status, race, gender, and environment all factor in to the likelihood of someone becoming a criminal - could names indicate these factors early on? While there's no real evidence of this phenomenon - the United States doesn't collect or publish data on middle names, as far as I can tell - the idea that one's name might predict later criminal behavior was fascinating to me. Years ago, I read an article online that claimed Wayne was more popular as a middle name among criminals (here's a more recent article on the 'Wayne Theory') than in the general population. Edmund Emil Kemper III, the 'Co-Ed Killer'
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