How our names shape our

identity
Michael Hedrick

A court forced this child's parents to change his name from "Messiah" to "Martin." He's probably better off. Screen shot
September 15, 2013

Sometimes we try to live up to our names. Sometimes we try to run away

from them. But either way — and for all the options in between — your
name is a crucial factor in developing your sense of self, and thus helps
propel you forward on various paths of life and career.

The term nominative determinism was coined in a 1994 issue of New

Scientist to describe this phenomenon. The magazine's editors noticed
two instances of scientists gravitating toward subjects that were
strangely linked to their last names. "We recently came across a new
book," they wrote: "Pole Positions — The Polar Regions and the Future of
the Planet, by Daniel Snowman. Then, a couple of weeks later, we
received a copy of London Under London — A Subterranean Guide, one of
the authors of which is Richard Trench."

Maybe it's just a coincidence. Or maybe these scientists' names really did
influence their career paths.

Research on the influence of names appears to stretch back at least a half

century. A 1996 article called "Name and Behavior" by H. Edward
Deluzain and describes a famous 1954 study published in the British
Journal of Psychology:

One of the classic pieces of research on the relationship between names

and behavior was conducted in Africa by G. Johoda of University College
of the Gold Coast. In discussions with teachers and social workers on the
formation of character in young people, Jahoda discovered that the
people he was working with — all of whom were Ashanti — sincerely
believed that the day of the week on which a person was born has a lot to
do with the kind of character traits and behavior the person will show
throughout life. Specifically, Jahoda learned that the Ashanti believe that
boys (but apparently not girls) who are born on Monday will be mild
mannered and peace loving, but those born on Wednesday will be
violent and aggressive. [Behind the Name]
MORE FROM THE IDEA FACTORY

As a result, the Ashanti community has a long-held custom of including

the day a person was born in the person's name. After discovering the
Ashanti's custom, Jahoda then took his research to the records of the
local juvenile court to see if males born on Wednesday committed more
crimes.

"The number of violent acts committed by the boys born on Wednesday

was significantly higher than would be expected through mere chance,
and it showed that Wednesdays tended to live up to the
reputation," wrote Deluzain. "When this figure was compared to the
number of Mondays in the population… it bore out the superstition that
boys born on that day would lead more peaceful and law-abiding lives."
Though stereotyping can't definitively dictate future behavior, it does
provide a spring-board for making assumptions about a person. When a
new person introduces himself to you (let's call him "Spencer"), your
first instinct is to assemble a rough mental sketch of everyone you have
ever known named Spencer. Maybe someone named Spencer bullied you
in second grade. Maybe Spencer was the name of your first kiss. Perhaps
Spencer is the name of your father. You subconsciously judge this new
Spencer, at least a little, based on all the other Spencers you have ever
known.

Gender dynamics, socio-economic status, and unusual spelling can also

play a role in determining the behavior of a child. That's why it's
perfectly fine for parents to spend a few months fretting over the
potential drawbacks of choosing a child's name. Sometimes, parents
desire strong names for boys, and more feminine names for girls. Most
parents, it would seem, take it a step further and ask if the name they
choose could be interpreted a certain way, or rhymed with a certain
word that get their child teased in school.

Research psychologist David Figlio of Northwestern University in Illinois

showed how a baby's name can have leave a long-lasting imprint on their
lives — for better or worse, reports LiveScience. Figlio started by
studying millions of birth certificates. He then further broke each name
down into thousands of phonemic components, and started to find
behavioral patterns.

Boys with names traditionally given to girls are more likely to misbehave
than their counterparts with masculine names, research suggests…
When in elementary school, boys named Ashley and Shannon, for
instance, behave just like their more masculine-named classmates
named Brian and other boyish names. "Once these kids hit sixth grade,
all of a sudden the rates of disciplinary problems skyrocket [for those
boys with girlish names], and it was much more the case if there
happened to be a girl in the grade with that same name," Figlio [said].
[LiveScience]
Self-esteem may also play a factor. "People who particularly dislike their
name and also if other people think it's an odd and unlikeable name, that
can cause some problems," psychology professor Jean Twenge of San
Diego State University told LiveScience. "[They] tend not to be as well-
adjusted."

"People draw subconscious cues all the time about people," Figlio said.
"You meet a person for the first time and without thinking about it on an
explicit level you're looking at the way they're walking, what their accent
sounds like, how they're dressed, whether they smell… and you're
developing these immediate reactions," said Figlio. "I think there's
probably an evolutionary reason behind that. We're hardwired to try to
figure out in a heartbeat whether or not we want to trust somebody,
whether we want to run from somebody."

To answer the age-old question: What's in a name? A lot of stuff,

apparently.