If you’re a genius, chances are you have one of these names

Many of us have, at one point or another, wondered if maybe we could be actual geniuses. And although proving your mental might to the world can be tricky, MooseRoots may be able to offer a little help with their list of the most common genius names.

Compiled with over “14,750 names of notable philosophers, writers, mathematicians, scientists, inventors, artists, composers, Nobel laureates and MacArthur fellows,” the list is pretty exhaustive in terms of geniuses. And the site took into account the gender disparity among recognized, bonafide geniuses by breaking the list into two: one for men and one for women.

For the ladies, Mary and Elizabeth top the list, with 140 and 88 geniuses respectively. As for the men, John and Robert hold the top two spots with 352 and 220. Not that surprising when you take into account how common all four of those names are and have been for most of recent history.

In fact, most of the names are really common: William, Charles, David, James, Richard, Johann, George, and Paul round out the top ten for men. Yes, Johann might not be one you hear often around town, but consider the name’s history and you can probably come up with at least one genius Johann, like Bach.

Top genius women’s names include: Maria, Anne, Margaret, Susan, Ruth, Anna, Alice, and Dorothy. Again, none of them are that rare even if a few had their heyday in decades past.

So what’s the lesson from the most common genius names? The more common the name, the more likely there are many geniuses with it.

(Image via iStock)