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Little Os is a clever one

Yesterday, LiveBetsDirect took a look at bookmaker Paddy Power’s odds on certain circumstances surrounding the birth of a prospective “First Baby.” As a little research showed, the historical odds against any president fathering a child while serving as US President currently stands at 42/1 (Grover Cleveland’s the one).

However, something like a presidential schedule isn’t going to keep Paddy Power from “making things more interesting.” Hand-in-hand with the existence of the fetus itself are those two stock questions every future parent must answer. The baby’s sex is an easy one:

Male: 5/6
Female: 5/6

What? You thought the Paddy was going to favor “Male” just because Obama already has two daughters? Nope: Nothing but the straight biological line here until the bets start rolling in on this one.

Slightly more compelling are the odds posted on names. The Os Man will throw away the sillier end of the spectrum, i.e. those names which really put the “novelty” into “novelty bets” and are going off at at least 50/1. Out then go Jesus, Oprah, Beyonce, Paris and Perez.

The remainder of the table includes:
Barack Jr.: 3/1
Stanley: 4/1
Frasier: 12/1
Abraham: 16/1
Michael: 18/1
James: 18/1
Craig: 18/1
Martin: 20/1
John: 20/1
Jesse: 20/1
George: 25/1
Hussein: 25/1
Luther: 25/1
Joseph: 25/1
Tiger: 30/1
Washington: 33/1

Madelyn: 8/1
Marian: 14/1
Aretha: 40/1
Hillary: 100/1

Tip no. 1: You’re definitely covering Barack Jr., by far the most likely name on this entire list and certainly a moniker to be considered for what could well be Mr. Obama’s only son. You also have to like “Martin” and “Joseph” here for the namesaking of the Prez’ role model and Veep; a much happier opportunity might be to wager on “Joseph” as the middle name, a nice gesture to a friend and partner.

Interesting about this list of names is Paddy Power’s extreme insistence on the Obamas avoiding the trendier and more popular names in America. Of the boys names, only four are listed in the top 50 boy’s names given in America between 2000-2005: Michael (second most popular in that span), Joseph (seventh), John (16th) and James (18th). For the girls, Paddy Power listed exactly zero of the top 50 recent choices.

Incidentally, if you’re wondering about the lack of girl’s names, this is actually due to the fact that the most traditional Obama family first name is “Stanley”: Aside from being his maternal grandfather’s name, it’s also Barack’s mother’s name. We’ll see if Michelle goes for a bit a gender-bender.

One suggestion: Os. Seriously, Os D. Obama sounds great, doesn’t it?