John and David are the most common billionaire names. Alice and Julia are up there when it comes to wealth.
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- An analysis of the top 500 billionaires across the globe revealed the most popular names.
- John and David are the most common billionaire names, while Marks have the most wealth.
- Wang and Zhang also made a top-ten list that's otherwise Western male names.
There's a lot to consider if you want to name your baby for a successful future. But when it comes to the top names of billionaires, it turns out tradition reigns.
"Western names still dominated the top spots, which might reflect historical economic advantages rather than any real connection between these names and success," said Julian Goldie, who conducted an analysis to find the most popular names among Bloomberg's top 500 billionaires
John and David top the list, while billionaires named Mark are the most wealthy, on average. Most of the top-10 billionaire names are traditional western male names, but the Chinese names Wang and Zhang also made the list.
"The real story here isn't just about names—it's about how wealth creation has evolved," said Goldie. "Today's billionaires come from diverse backgrounds and industries, from tech innovators to traditional business leaders."
The top 10 names for billionaires
According to Goldie, the most popular names for billionaires, in descending order are:
- John
- David
- Thomas
- Michael
- Wang
- Mark
- Charles
- Zhang
- Richard
- Jim
Of those, billionaires named Mark had the greatest wealth, with an average net worth of $41.2 billion. That's influenced by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, whose wealth recently topped $200 billion, making him the world's second-richest person.
The world's richest person, Elon Musk (worth a reported $340 billion), didn't make the list since his name is relatively uncommon. However, his name is creeping up in popularity, appearing on the top 1,000 most popular baby names in America in 2018 and 2021.
Billionaire names for baby girls
At least one group was missing from the list of most popular billionaire baby names.
"I was really struck by the stark gender disparity reflected in the names, with traditionally male names sweeping all the top spots," Goldie said.
While the women didn't stack up in pure popularity, there are billionaire names for baby girls too, according to the Bloomberg list of the world's richest 500 people. These include:
- Alice. Alice Walton, heir to the Walmart fortune, is the world's richest woman, worth a reported $106 billion.
- Julia. Julia Flesher Koch, who inherited a large stake in Koch Industries, is worth a reported $76 billion, and is the world's second richest woman.
- Francoise. Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, granddaughter of the founder of L'Oreal, is worth a reported $72 billion according to Bloomberg, though many other sources list her as the richest woman in the world.
- Jacqueline. Jacqueline Badger Mars, heiress to the Mars candy fortune, is worth a reported $44 billion.
- Abigail. Abigail Johnson, CEO of Fidelity Investments, has a worth of $42 billion.
- MacKenzie. MacKenzie Scott, former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is worth $38 billion.
- Miriam. Miriam Adelson made her $36 billion fortune in casinos.
Of course, there are newer girl's names on the billionaire baby list too. Taylor Swift became a billionaire this year, and more recently Selena Gomez did too. Rihanna is also a younger billionaire with roots in pop music.
More than a name
Of course, a person's success is about much more than a name.
"The real determinants of success are factors like opportunity, innovation, and good old-fashioned hard work," Goldie said. "The name on your birth certificate matters far less than access to education, resources, and having the drive to succeed."