DOES YOUR NAME AFFECT YOUR PERSONALITY?

Research is revealing that nominative determinism isn't as easy to dismiss as you might think

- by DR DAVID COX

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?