What’s in a name? Beryl, Joan and Muriel take out the top spots for credit scores ranked by name
What’s in a name? When it comes to your credit score, it could be more than you think.
Here at Credit Simple, we’ve got access to a wealth of data around credit information and demographics. So we thought we’d look into first names ranked by credit score.
Names such as Beryl, Joan and Muriel might sound old-fashioned, but they’re winning in the health stakes when it comes to credit scores. Enid, Joan and Winifred take out the top three spots for the highest scoring names (all are in the 800 range by score average) while newer and more creative names such as Cheyenne, Tyson and Junior are at the bottom of the list (Cheyennes average a 373 score). And Krystal with a K scores lower than Crystal with a C.
Women generally have higher scores than men and this shows across the top 10 list – all of which are female names. And when broken down by generation, women still lead; names such as Sheila, Gaynor and Philippa are the top three for Baby Boomers, while Hilary, Lynley and Jillian lead Gen X.
High-scoring names also show the trend of a changing multicultural society, with Asian names featuring heavily in the top Gen Y bracket: Jing, Yan and Ying score 605, 599 and 598 respectively.
CreditSimple.co.nz spokesperson Hazel Phillips said it was a very close race between women and men when comparing average credit scores, and women are actually one step ahead across all generations.
“The data shows that overall, women have an average credit score of 621 compared to 617 for men,” Ms Phillips said. “This is consistent across generations: Gen Y we see 483 for women compared to 481 for men; Gen X, women score 609 while men score 606; and Baby Boomer women score 722 while men score 720.”
Ms Phillips said that although women tend to average higher than men, the top credit score by name is largely reflective of age.
“Older names popular in previous generations such as Enid, Joan, Winifred, Beryl and Muriel all rank in the top 10, which shows your credit score typically gets better as you get older. As people age they tend to become more financially stable and responsible, and have a longer credit history which helps raise their credit score.”
Ms Phillips said that no matter what your name, knowing your credit score is the best place to start when it came to credit health.
“Regardless of your name or gender, it’s important to know your credit score to determine how credit-worthy you are, including what you might need to do to improve your score if it’s low, or how to use a good credit score to get a better deal on with banks and utility providers.”
You can check if your credit health is in shape by getting your credit score for free right here at www.creditsimple.co.nz.
