- Career Advantage: Stewart says having a traditionally white male name helped her résumé stand out, leading to more job opportunities in the competitive restaurant industry.
- Public Reactions: People are often surprised when they meet her after hearing her name, but she says her confidence and professionalism quickly replace any initial confusion with respect.
- Embracing Her Identity: Rather than changing her name, Stewart has embraced it, using her experience to spark conversations about gender, race, and name bias while encouraging others to be proud of their identities.
Christopher Stewart has spent her entire life explaining her name. The 40-year-old New Yorker often has to repeat it after introducing herself, as many people assume they misheard because Christopher is traditionally a male name.
Despite the frequent confusion, Stewart has always appreciated her unique name. She says she grew up knowing it was unusual for a woman, but it always felt completely natural to her.
"My family made sure to nurture my name, even knowing it was a big name for a girl," Stewart told Newsweek.
Today, Stewart works as a restaurant reservations manager and is also the owner of the lifestyle website Eating Fabulously, embracing the distinctive name that has become a defining part of her identity.
As she grew older, Stewart became increasingly aware of how unusual her name seemed to others. By middle school, teachers would often pause during attendance, expecting a boy to respond before realizing the student raising her hand was a girl.
For years, she went by the nickname Chrissy, but as she gained confidence, she decided to embrace her legal name. Today, she introduces herself simply as Christopher, saying she has no interest in hiding or downplaying who she is.
"Once I decided who I wanted to be as a woman, I started going full force into being conscious of only introducing myself as Christopher," Stewart told Newsweek.
How Her Name Influenced Her Career
According to Stewart, her parents intentionally chose what she describes as "a white male name" because they believed it would give her an advantage in education and the job market. They hoped that a traditionally masculine name on college applications and résumés would help create more opportunities before employers met her in person.
Research has found that names can influence hiring decisions through both racial and gender bias. A 2024 study reported that applicants with traditionally white female names received the highest callback rates, while those with traditionally Black male and Black female names received the lowest response rates, highlighting that name-based discrimination continues to affect employment outcomes.
Stewart believes her first name has played a meaningful role in opening professional doors throughout her career. While she credits her success to hard work and a genuine passion for the restaurant industry, she feels that having a traditionally male name on her résumé helped her gain opportunities that might otherwise have been overlooked.
"There’s so much stigma around being a woman, especially in the workplace, and I feel that seeing a male name on a resumé might be a relief to some," Stewart told Newsweek. "But the thing is, you can never keep a smart, educated woman down. She’s going to get in that room no matter what."
Despite the advantages she believes her name has provided, Stewart recalls losing one opportunity because of it. While applying for a culinary school externship during college, she says her name led to confusion that cost her the position. However, the setback ultimately opened another door. She landed a restaurant job where she found a valuable mentor, developed essential skills, and built confidence while working in a kitchen where many male colleagues initially doubted her abilities.
Rather than seeing past setbacks as failures, Stewart believes they ultimately worked in her favor. She describes the missed culinary school opportunity as "a win-win situation" because it led her to a different restaurant job where she gained valuable experience, mentorship, and confidence.
When applying for jobs, Stewart chooses not to include her pronouns on her résumé or applications. As a result, most recruiters and hiring managers only realize she is a woman when she arrives for the interview. She believes this gives her the opportunity to get her foot in the door first and demonstrate her qualifications in person.
How People React to Her Name
Stewart says people almost always pause when she introduces herself, often assuming they misheard her name. After she repeats it, the conversation usually turns to questions about why she has a traditionally masculine name.
"The majority of people are instantly taken aback but quickly come to the realization after talking to me that my name and how I present myself is actually really dope," Stewart told Newsweek.
Although she once went by the nickname Chrissy, Stewart now almost always uses her full first name, particularly in professional settings. She says she no longer feels the need to shorten her name or hide any part of her identity, choosing instead to embrace the name she has carried throughout her life.
Embracing Her Identity
Today, Stewart says she feels nothing but pride in her name.
She recently went viral on TikTok after posting a video explaining how having a traditionally male name has helped her résumé stand out. The clip has attracted more than 1.9 million views, sparking widespread discussion about gender, race, and name discrimination in the hiring process.
For Stewart, the conversation is about much more than social media. She hopes her story encourages future generations to embrace their identities rather than change them to meet other people's expectations.
"Name discrimination is a very real thing and has been for decades," Stewart told Newsweek. "I hope little girls know it's perfectly OK to have a big, bold name. Let it shape you into an incredible superstar that sparks curiosity in the rooms it will put you in."
Stewart says she has fully embraced her identity and sees her name as a source of confidence rather than something to hide.
"Christopher is a full name, my name, and a name to be proud of."
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