Do names affect behavior?

In psychology, the “Dorian Gray effect” (pdf) named after the character refers to the ways internal factors, such as personality or self-perception, influence physicality. “Each name has associated characteristics, behaviors, and a look, and as such, it has a meaning and a shared schema within a society.”

Is it good to have a unique name?

Unique names are “often easier for people to remember, and so they are likely to remember your name when they meet you for the first time (or at least remember that you had an unusual name),” University of Texas at Austin psychology professor Arthur Markman, PhD, tells Yahoo Health.

Should I give my child a unique name?

“[A name] symbolizes their hopes and dreams for their kids,” says Satran. “So if you want your child to stand out from the crowd, be independent, and a real individual, a unique name is one way to show him that you value those qualities.”

Does name affect your life?

There’s new research that shows names may even tell us about more than just social background; a name may affect future decisions about marriage and career. Psychologist Brett Pelham, who has studied hundreds of thousands of names, said they can significantly affect your life, even what profession you enter.

How can a name influence your life?

Some recent research suggests that names can influence choice of profession, where we live, whom we marry, the grades we earn, the stocks we invest in, whether we’re accepted to a school or are hired for a particular job, and the quality of our work in a group setting.

Do baby names matter?

Now parents increasingly look for unique names or spellings of names. As baby names become a matter of choice rather than tradition, they reveal more about the people doing the choosing. An example of this is the growing ease with which one can guess whether a person in the US is black or white.

Why do people choose unique names?

This trend toward picking distinctive baby names is driven partly by current society’s focus on individuality and self-expression, experts say, and partly influenced by parents’ exposure to a wider range of naming options than ever before.

Why do parents choose unique names?

Do unusual baby names affect child development later in life?

Study finds baby names that are perceived as too different may adversely affect children later in life. Unusual baby names are trendier than ever. I’m looking at you Robert Downey Jr. Avri is a beautiful baby name, but certainly different. And you Alyssa Milano.

Why are unique baby names a hardship to have?

For instance, donning your newborn boy with a girly sounding name could mean behavioral problems later in life. And unique baby names that only your child will have can be a hardship too.

Is your baby’s name perceived as too different?

That’s because a name that is perceived as too different may actually have an adverse effect on your child later in life. A 2012 study looked at how one’s name impacts people’s opinion of him or her.

Does the name you choose affect your child’s future?

The difference between choosing, say, one of five common, relatively likeable names is small in terms of any impact on the child’s life. “If you’re choosing between a relatively likeable, common name and one that is really odd, that definitely could have an impact,” Twenge said.