Parents always put a lot of thought into naming their children. There is an old saying in China: It is better to give a child a gift than a thousand pieces of gold; it is better to give a child a good reputation than to give a child a skill. Does a name really have the magical power to change the path of life? Will these children's names determine their fate? Names are not only composed of simple words, but also contain social information. We tell people around us who we are through our names. Every year, researchers find more evidence of the power of names. A few attractive names will do well in most cases. For example, British people generally believe that people named James and Elizabeth are more likely to be successful, while people named George and Ann are the least attractive. Names are connected to people's sense of hearing, and those names that sound pleasant to the ear will naturally arouse people's good feelings. Of course the impact of a particular name on each person is different, but in many cases a name is the first impression on a person. Since people often have intuitive views and inherent preferences for names, names can affect people's judgment and choices. Especially in the job search process, before you have ever met someone, your name is the first sign. A National Bureau of Economic Research report found that job applicants with a white name were half as likely to receive a callback than those with an African-American name. Another study related to names found that children with gender-specific names will have their learning interests frustrated in one aspect, which will affect their long-term development. That is to say, if you have a very girly-sounding name, your grades in math and science may not be very good. It sounds very weird, but it's absolutely true. One famous study found that girls with very feminine names, such as Ann and Emma, ??were less likely to study math and physics after the age of 16. The effect is so pronounced that parents can set completely different career paths for their twin daughters by naming them Isabella and Alex. The study, which looked at 1,000 pairs of American twin sisters, found that Alex achieved twice as much as her twin sister in math or science. Why does this happen? The explanation is that this is due to the expectations people have on other people because of their names. This expectation can affect a person's self-image and lead to typecasting. The impact of a name on a person is also reflected in more subtle ways. For example, we all prefer things that look like us, including our names. It may seem unbelievable, but social psychology research has found that people make choices based on how similar other names are to their own, including who they marry, which street they live on, or which occupation they pursue. For example, men named Louis are more likely than others to move to St. Louis, while men named Dennis are more likely to become dentists. Research has also found that even our initials can have an impact on us. For example, children whose first letter begins with A have higher average grades than children whose first letter begins with C or D. The initial letters of most elites in the world are between A and K, such as the five richest people in the world. Is this just a coincidence? Researchers have found that we often sort names alphabetically to make them easier to remember, whether for school registration, final exams or job applications, and this behavior often creates potential discrimination. People with first initials tend to get more attention. The simplest example is that when customers flip through the phone book, taxi companies whose names begin with A will have a greater advantage than those whose names begin with Z. This phenomenon is reflected in early education, when teachers answer questions by name, students whose names are ranked first receive more attention. However, despite this, names do not determine our lives. Names cannot determine life. Hitler's fate of becoming a dictator was not determined by his name. Names have so much influence on us, does it mean that a good name predicts a successful life? The answer is of course no.
In a study in the Foreign Journal of Applied Social Psychology on whether names affect personal success, researchers asked one group of voters to only know the candidate’s name and knew nothing about the candidate’s issue positions; another group of voters had both Know the names of the candidates and also know the issue positions to investigate whether the names of political candidates affect turnout. The experimental results show that when only the name is told, the name has a clear effect. However, abstention is also common in this situation. Names are not of substantive significance when a candidate's political affiliation is also provided. This experiment fully demonstrates that the name does have an impact on a person's destiny when it works alone, but it is not the only impact. Although the signal sent by a name does have a certain connection with personal destiny, there is no inevitable causal connection, and a good name does not mean a good destiny. How to have a good life involves not just your name, but also many factors such as your living environment, educational background, and personal efforts. After all, it is you who ultimately determines your destiny, not your name.