What’s in a name? Money… apparently…
The hugely successful American sitcom Friends is finally staging a reunion special, which is set to be released on HBO Max streaming service from the 27th of May. All six principal stars will be returning for “The One Where They Get Back Together” and many fans of the show are almost hyperventilating with the excitement.
UK Google Trends analysis showed a huge 100,000+ spike in “Friends reunion” searches – it’s clear to see that the love for this sitcom classic runs deep, deep enough, in fact, to even name your baby after your favourite character.
Financial experts Loan Bird have analysed the earning potential for the namesakes of Friends characters to see which name could earn the most money, as well as the salary earnings of the characters in the hit show.
Average Worth Of Friends Character Names
| Friends Character Names |
Average Worth Per Name |
| Ross |
£35,838 |
| Joey – Joseph |
£33,497 |
| Monica |
£32,599 |
| Rachel |
£29,667 |
| Phoebe |
£25,108 |
| Chandler |
N/A |
Using Adzuna’s name valuation tool, the analysis identified that those who follow in the palaeontologist’s footsteps are more likely to earn more!
That’s right, “Ross” is the highest value Friend’s inspired name, followed by “Joseph”, the full name of Joey Tribbiani’s sexy, Italian character. As for the Friends girls, the highest value name is “Monica” which links nicely to the show as Monica is the highest-earning female character as a Head Chef at premium restaurant Javu.
As for the original funny man Chandler, his unique name didn’t yield any insights, as in the words of Mr Bing himself: “What kind of a name is “Chandler” anyway!?”
Friends Characters Salary
| Character |
End of Show Job Title |
End of Show Earnings |
Converted To £ |
| Joey – Joseph |
Actor – Co-Star in a Feature Film |
$130,000 |
£92,408 |
| Chandler |
IT Procurement Manager |
$100,000 |
£71,083 |
| Monica |
Head Chef |
$80,000 |
£56,872 |
| Ross |
Palaeontologist |
$75,000 |
£53,312 |
| Rachel |
Merchandising Manager at Ralph Lauren |
$55,000 |
£39,099 |
| Phoebe |
Masseuse |
$20,000 |
£14,216 |
Compared to the end of series earnings of the characters themselves, it’s clear to see that “Joseph” is a strong contender for a high-earning name as actor Joey lands on his feet with a $130,000 Co-Star role in a feature film.
The earning per name analysis follows the same trajectory as the earnings of the characters themselves, bar Chandler who comes in as the second highest-earning character, but Rachel and Phoebe remain at the lower end of the scale as the least profitable Friends inspired names.
