How does your name affect your personality?

[Sunny Ghost]

my name is a supposed common name, but i suppose less common in my generation and the ones after. i think it was more popular just before my time, and so i don't know anyone personally with my same name... but will meet older women with the same name.

but i've always thought it kind of a plain name. first, middle and last are all very common... and in fact all have the same amount of letters. haha.

weird thing is... i have a very ordinary american name... but i don't look "american." by that i mean, not white or black american. i'm asian. well... half. and growing up mostly in rural areas, i've gotten a lot of mixed looks when i tell people my name. i suppose they expected something more foreign. i've even had several, "what's your real name?" (as a lot of asians are fond of choosing an easy american name to go by, as a sort of nick name to simplify life.)

i don't know that any of this really affected me much... perhaps i never made it a point to stand out because my name doesn't. but i can't say i ever really thought too much of my name. well, not enough to where it'd have an impact.

...but it's also possible i rebelled against my asian mother's asian-ness due to my very american name. as i grew older, i refused to take my shoes off at the door, which is customary where my mother is from, but not so much in america. but, i always figured it was more of my own desire to fit in, and less because of my name.

 

[IZthe411]

My name hasn't affected my personality;
I think it compliments my personality, though.

 

[Quay]

How very interesting. I relate to this 100%. I always say my name is this big ole paradox. The mythical figure I'm named after is from a culture nothing like mine, we look absolutely nothing alike, but we do have similar behavioral traits. Diva-ish. hee hee. But being in deep thought about the significance of my name has opened me up to the world, and the human condition. I really don't pay much attention to differences in people, since (in my opinion) most of these differences are learning experiences.
In a past job, would have to address new patients with their full names. I definitely took time in making sure I practiced the name before going into the patient's room. I certainly learned a lot about folks' names, and the pride they take in them.

My name has definitely affected my life, and likely my personality as a result. It's not trendy or in the "poorly-educated parent" subtype either. Its just very contradictorily foreign, it takes a special kind of polyglot to get my name right on the first try, moreso in the US. And that does something to a person, to have everyone mispronounce your name at first. I used to tense up before any kind of roll call. And in my youth because I moved to new locations so frequently, there was always another audience of new people waiting to stumble over my name. Just another attribute to help me stand out, as if being shy and tall and the perennial new girl weren't enough. But it is unique and I think that has helped me find myself that way. I've made some peace with my name. It still annoys me if strangers just butcher it without a thought. I'm sensitive to that. If I don't know how to pronounce someone's name, I will ask, not just try to mumble some jumble as if thats going to fool anyone. :rolli:

 

[Spamtar]

My name means noble.

I like in general to have an illustrious bearing. And with my light English/Irish accent living in the states appears to give me an aristocratic air particularly in my professional attire.

That being said there also a side of me which is iconoclastic and at times downright vulger if not an outright misanthrope.

 

[Patches]

In a sense, I changed my name myself when I was in Kindgarten. My name is somewhat gender-neutral, but the way my parents spelled it was very feminine. I decided that I liked the more masculine spelling better, and just started spelling it that way. Eventually, all my coursework, classes, and even school records were in the spelling that I chose. And I still spell it that way.

I was a bit of a tomboy as a kid, and even now, despite the fact that I look and dress very feminine (with pink being my primary clothing and jewelry color scheme), my interests and personality tend to be slightly more masculine than that of most of the other females I know.

Per your article:

"I found girls with names that are relatively feminine in high school chose advanced coursework in humanities – and less feminine are more likely to choose math and science courses," Figlio said, adding the research focused on high-achieving girls.

Science. That's me.

 

[FakePlasticAlice]

This article refers to low-class and high-class names...but what on earth defines a low class or a high class name?

I do think my name had somewhat of an impact on me... when i was younger i moved around a lot and i was always called my first name and my middle name together... which sounded very girly and i really hated it...eventually i managed to shed the middle name. I have a unisex first name, yet simple..it feels like a strong name to me...and my last name is french... i've never been seen as a very girly girl and perhaps shedding my middle name had something to do with that... either way i absolutely love my name..first and last, and a lot of other people have told me they love my name as well... yet doesn't seem to make people like ME more

The article also speaks to liking letters of the alphabet that are a part of your name and how that is related to self-esteem.... well i do love the first letters of my first and last name...and i love my name as well... but i do not have a high self-esteem at all.

It also says that those with names spelled differently than the norm are more likely to having spelling and reading difficulties.. my first name is spelled differently than the norm (only slightly) and good luck trying to spell my last name unless your french... yet i was always above average in both spelling and reading growing up.

Overall, from my experience, i would have to disagree with this article... however... it's just one experience amongst 7 billion..

I'm just glad i didn't get named "Jennifer" which was supposed to be my name up until the last minute when my god mother asked my mother not to name me that as i had a 2nd cousin who was just named Jennifer.

One more thing i think is worth mentioning is that i completely idolize my late grandfather..and my grandfather, my cousin (his only other grandchild) & myself all share the same first initial and last name. Perhaps one of the reason's i love my name so much.

 

[Saslou]

Sarah .. Very common .. hasn't affected me in the slightest.

I think my children have great names .. Ivan and Elliot .. Ivan is not terrible and Elliot wants to change his name to Steven or David when he's older, lol. I think their names suit them well. They've had no real issues either.

 

[Winter]

Leah.
Aside from the fact that half my family hates me because it's technically a 'Jewish' name because it's from the Old Testament, it doesn't affect me at all ;]
And no, I'm not being sarcastic. Considering the fact that the half that dislikes the name is stuck up enough to name their children after them (we have a Victoria Beatrice junior in my family, daughter of Victoria Beatrice and granddaughter to Victor and Beatrice...you get the point), I'm happy with my name.

 

[FakePlasticAlice]

Leah.
Aside from the fact that half my family hates me because it's technically a 'Jewish' name because it's from the Old Testament, it doesn't affect me at all ;]
And no, I'm not being sarcastic. Considering the fact that the half that dislikes the name is stuck up enough to name their children after them (we have a Victoria Beatrice junior in my family, daughter of Victoria Beatrice and granddaughter to Victor and Beatrice...you get the point), I'm happy with my name.

god i hate it when ppl name their kids after themselves... really, do u think THAT much of yourself???
i do like naming kids after family members that meant a lot to you though.

 

[Winter]

god i hate it when ppl name their kids after themselves... really, do u think THAT much of yourself???
i do like naming kids after family members that meant a lot to you though.

Exactly!
Besides, we're not, like, royalty. |:

 

[Vasilisa]

That reminds me, the grading system which is letter based, not numeral based, can evidently impose some detriment to certain names.

"Moniker Maladies: When Names Sabotage Success," Leif D. Nelson and Joseph P. Simmons, Psychological Science

Expectant parents have long considered the meaning behind names before choosing one for their child, but a recent study suggests it's our initials that help determine our fates. The authors argue that our preference for our names is so strong that we unconsciously gravitate toward people, places, objects, and outcomes that begin with the same letter as our moniker: Mary is more likely to marry Mark, drive a Mazda, and move to Maryland than is Virginia, who's more likely to marry Virgil, drive a Volvo, and move to Virginia. To test whether the influence of initials could override a conscious desire to succeed at something, the authors turned to professional baseball players and graduate students. An analysis of Major League Baseball records from 1913 to 2006 showed that players whose first or last name started with the letter K (the symbol for strikeout) were slightly more likely to fulfill the destiny suggested by their initials: they struck out 18.8 percent of the time, compared with 17.2 percent for other players. Likewise, MBA students whose first or last name began with a C or a D tended to end up with lower grade-point averages, and law students with A or B in their initials tended to end up at better-ranked programs than those whose initials included a C or a D. Students with initials from the very beginning of the alphabet did not, however, earn higher grades than those with grade-irrelevant initials. The authors explain that performance reflects both motivation and ability, so although having a name tied to "easy-to-achieve negative outcomes" might hurt you, having a name whose first letter reflects "hard-to-achieve positive outcomes" may not offer a boost.

See also: A first name can shorten years off your life?

 

[Rail Tracer]

My American name is too common to care too much about it. In fact, it was quite common when I was born.

As for my unofficial name given to me by my parents? I try not to take it so personally, but it does affect my personality in some special way. There is a (strong) meaning behind the name. The way that I interpret it is like a prototype for a "code of conduct" of what I set myself to follow unless I find otherwise to change it (which I often do if I see that changing it is better than what I had.) There is probably two of which is easily identifiable to me, Ethics and Morals. Beyond this point... everything gets a bit too philosophical (ex: Aristotle) I could just wrap layers upon layers around my unofficial name.

 

[Ingenue]

That reminds me, the grading system which is letter based, not numeral based, can evidently impose some detriment to certain names.



See also: A first name can shorten years off your life?

Yes those A names are rather Type-A-ish.

My name is Greek for "crowned one" and, yes, I am quite the princess.

 

[Chaotic Harmony]

My name is very common for a lot of people my age. So it's been pretty easy for me to blend in without many questions prompting me how I got my name, or how to spell it... So it's nice when you don't like to talk about yourself to have a common name. I can't really say that it really affected my personality....just made it easier for me to try and be invisible.

 

[sleepy]

Dunno. 5 different people I know IRL know me by 5 different names. But a small part of the name I use on all of them.

 

[Aquarelle]

god i hate it when ppl name their kids after themselves... really, do u think THAT much of yourself???
i do like naming kids after family members that meant a lot to you though.

Agree!

 

[citizen cane]

My name is pretty average. The only way it seems to have affected my life is that i get a lot of references to the TV show "Doug".

 

[Aquarelle]

^^That was a great TV show!

 

[Vasilisa]

delightful irony

America, Why Are You Naming All Your Boys Like This?

...

"Put it all together," Wattenberg writes, "and the defining characteristic of this naming era is parents' desire to feel that their child's name is distinctive."

What's fascinating is that parents seem to measure a name's distinctiveness not by its sound, but by its spelling. The delightful irony, of course, is that in seeking to diversify the way we spell our children's names, we wind up converging on a surprisingly homogenized sound. The more names change, the more they stay the same.

Your Name: Do you feel the connection?
What does your first name mean?​

 

[Ginkgo]

I think my first name and last name have effected some of my choices in life, to the point where they influenced some of my preferences in the long haul.