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According to one 2018 study, you only have 27 seconds to make a good first impression.

Other studies suggest that is closer to seven seconds, but you get the drift – there is no time to waste.

The first thing people often learn about you is your name, and that can have a surprising impact on how you’re perceived.

For example, if you’re named Destiny (or Jasmine), there’s a good chance people will think you’re a stripper, and if your name is X Æ A-12, you’re going to inherit a lot of cash.

Some parents look at the naming of their child as a way to express their own personalities or identities. Nothing wrong with that, I guess, but consider this from the BBC:

…what many parents might not fully realise – I know I certainly didn’t – is that the choice they make over their children’s names could play a part in shaping how others see their child and therefore ultimately the kind of person their child becomes.

“Because a name is used to identify an individual and communicate with the individual on a daily basis, it serves as the very basis of one’s self-conception, especially in relation to others,” says David Zhu, a psychologist at the University of Arizona, who researches the psychology of names.

There are many dynamics that help shape one’s identity – genes, formative experiences, the company we keep – but the importance of self-identity in relation to our own name shouldn’t be underplayed.

A study from the 2000s led by US psychologist Jean Twenge, found that, even after controlling for family background and general dissatisfaction with life, people who didn’t like their own name tended to have poorer psychological adjustment.

This was most likely either because their lack of confidence and self-esteem caused them to dislike their name or disliking their name contributed to their lack of confidence – “the name becomes a symbol of the self”, Twenge and her co-author wrote.

A 2011 German study, which looked at how people reacted to names on a dating site, found that people with names that were considered unfashionable at the time were rejected more often than those with names that were in vogue.

A study in China went one further, by cross-checking the names of people with their risk of having been convicted of crimes. It was found that people with less popular names (or names considered to have a ‘negative connotation’) were more likely to have been involved in crime.

I pity South Africans named Jacob.

Let’s offer some balance, and focus on studies showing some positive news related to names:

…while a less common name may be disadvantageous in the short-term (increasing the risk of rejection and lowering your likeability) it could have advantages over the longer-term by engendering in you a greater sense of your personal uniqueness…

Having an unusual name might even shape us to be more creative and open-minded, according to research by Zhu at Arizona State University and his colleagues.

So yeah, I guess it swings both ways.

Something to ponder as your impending birth grows nearer.

No pressure.

[source:bbc]