The very first impression of what you might be like as a person comes from your name. Or more precisely, the sounds your name makes.
Canadian psychologists have found that if you’re a Katie or a Jack, for example, you’ll be expected to be bubbly and outgoing, the life and soul of every party. If you’re an Owen or a Lauren, however, you’ll be perceived as one of life’s natural peacemakers.
Why? Because the human mind automatically associates the short, abrupt sounds in ‘Katie’ or ‘Jack’ with the quick, bouncy energy of an extrovert, while we naturally link names containing softer sounds with agreeableness.
Of course, in reality, Jacks are no more likely to be extroverted than Owens, but research has repeatedly found that our initial perceptions of a person can be significantly skewed by their name.
“It’s part of a general finding in psychology that we have a tendency to make associations between language sounds and certain things,” says Dr David Sidhu, an assistant professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.
“If a certain sound seems smooth and soft, that suggests a kind or agreeable personality.”
Sidhu and his colleagues found that these perceptions become irrelevant once we get to know the person.
Yet over the last 15 years, psychologists around the world have found that such first impressions can be more consequential than you might think, especially in situations where snap decisions are made based on limited information, such as on dating apps or in job interviews.
One German study from 2011 found that people with names considered old-fashioned were more likely to be rejected on dating sites.
For parents-to-be, these findings can add extra weight to what is already a momentous decision: what name do you give your child?
Because if their name does influence expectations of their personality, could it become self-fulfilling? Could other people’s perceptions of them end up moulding who they grow up to be?
Outside influences
Human personality is a complex melting pot of genetic factors and life experiences, of nature and nurture. Genes have been estimated to account for 30–60 per cent of personality traits.
Then there’s also the role of so-called gene-environment interactions – the extent to which genes are able to express themselves depending on life events and how we’re treated by the world.
“There’s a lot of genetic contributions to personality, but experiences also matter,” says Dr René Mõttus, professor of psychology at the University of Edinburgh. “And it takes time for these influences to play out over the course of someone’s life.”
As one of the most intrinsic aspects of your identity, could your name become one of these influences? Remarkably, it seems that it can, at least in terms of your style and possibly even your fashion choices.
Some studies have shown that people can even guess a person’s name purely just by seeing their face, with an accuracy greater than random chance.
Sidhu says this seems to be because there are stereotypes about what a Daniel or a Jeff, for example, might look like and so people with those names end up conforming to these expectations.
“They might grow a beard, or decide to wear certain glasses,” he says.
But whether your name really shapes your personality is a thornier topic.
Back in the mid-2000s, psychologists at the University of Michigan concluded that people who hated their names were more likely to suffer from a lack of confidence and low self-esteem, or as they wrote, “the name becomes a symbol of the self”.
Sidhu is sceptical, however. “In these cases, I would think it’s probably more general self-confidence issues that have led to this negative self-image,” he says.
Other studies have suggested that your name may play some role in influencing your life trajectory.
The previously mentioned German dating app study found that, as well as being rejected more often, people with less fashionable names had a lower level of education and poorer self-esteem.
Chinese academics at Beijing’s Institute of Psychology have gone even further, publishing research which found that people with names that were perceived as less popular, less warm or less moral, were more likely to have gone on to lead a life of crime.
At face value, it seems plausible that someone who’s endured repeated social rejection and fewer opportunities as a consequence of their name, might conceivably become more cynical and dissatisfied, which might push them towards criminal behaviour.
But Mõttus isn’t convinced.
In reality, he argues, other factors such as family environment and social skills play a far bigger role than a person’s name when it comes to determining things such as likeability, educational opportunities, and whether someone grows up to be warm and trusting or frustrated and pessimistic.
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New name, new life?
The obvious question, then, is: could changing your name change your life? It’s a powerful idea.
Research published by Chinese and American psychologists in 2020 found that people with rarer names are more likely to follow unusual and coveted careers, such as a film director.
Another study from 2020, published in the Strategic Management Journal, looked at CEOs across 1,172 companies and found that those with rarer names were more likely to take a unique approach to their management styles.
Despite these findings, Mõttus believes that anyone hoping to get a sprinkle of stardust purely through changing their name is probably going to end up disappointed.
In reality, he says, rare names tend to reflect quirky parents, who provide their child with the kind of upbringing and genetic makeup that primes them to see the world differently.
“If you’re a parent who’s quirky, open and curious, you might be more likely to pick Apple as your child’s name,” he says.
“This quirkiness might be transferred to the child through genes and end up influencing their approach in the business world later in life. But the name itself is just a passenger in all this.”
At the same time, Mõttus accepts that there could be some exceptional circumstances.
For example, a child with a truly unusual name might be bullied at school, to the extent that they become anxious and introverted, which would represent a case of their name effectively shaping their personality.
“I think this could be possible,” he says. “Fortunately, I don’t think this would happen commonly enough to explain any of the variability in personality traits that we see across the population.”
And what about people whose names have been affected by cultural shifts, viral trends or political movements?
These last couple of years haven’t been the easiest for the Karens of the world, although as of yet, no psychologist has attempted to study whether this has had an effect on their personalities.
Sidhu says that if he were to hazard a guess, having a name that becomes highly recognisable, culturally, might matter most when it comes to first impressions with total strangers.
“I’m sure Donalds might be perceived differently now compared with 20 years ago,” he says. But again, he suspects that it matters very little once people get to know the person.
Overall, though, Mõttus says that if anyone is going to have enough influence over us to shape our personality, it’ll be our family and friends – the people to whom our names matter the least.
But when it comes to making good first impressions with total strangers, it might be advisable for parents to play it safe.
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