Nigel’s voting for Ukip but Samantha is not backing the Tories: How your name could determine which party you vote for in General Election 2015

He might not want it made public, but your friend Tim is probably going to vote for the Lib Dems.

 

Charlotte has plumped for the Tories, but Samantha is distinctly lukewarm on Cameron. Jill is almost certainly going to vote Ukip (as is Nigel, naturally) while Michelle is leaving her mark in Labour's box. 

 

At least that is the claim by YouGov, which has analysed voting intentions when compared with names. 

 

Nigels, for example, are twice as almost likely to vote Ukip than the national average – 31 per cent versus 16 per cent. But they are least likely to vote for Labour, along with Nicks and Jonathans. 

 

Joe Twyman, head of political and social research at YouGov, told City A.M. the data – which was drawn from 46,000 people – said it was not that Nigels were following their namesake Farage, but rather demographics. 

 

“What it's picking up on is that Nigel tends to be an older man's name – the same with Colin and Gary and so on. These are not names that young people tend to have. And Ukip tends to appeal to older men.

 

“There's a strang relationship between names and specific demographics,” he added. “That's why you can get into a situation where 31 per cent of Nigels will vote Ukip.”

 

Spelling and abbreviations also showed statistical differences, Twyman said. Carole with an e, for example, is more likely to vote Lib Dem and very unlikely to vote Consevative, but remove the e and her preference for the Tories rockets up. 

 

Dave is much more likely to vote Conservative (109 out of 130) than Davids (just 59).