Baby Names: Your Choice May Affect How Trustworthy People Think Your Child Is

Baby Names: Your Choice May Affect How Trustworthy People Think Your Child Is
Jamie Grill

The name you give your baby could affect how trustworthy they are perceived to be in later life, according to a new study.

Choosing a baby's name is a decision that already weighs pretty heavily on expectant parents minds - and now researchers have given us another bizarre box to tick off.

A study revealed that people with names that are hard to pronounce, are less likely to be trusted by others.

The Telegraph reports that researchers found people were more likely to believe trivia statements such as, 'Giraffes are the only mammals that cannot jump,' if they were told they had been put forward by a person whose name they found easy to pronounce, rather than if they were said to have been stated by someone with a name that they had difficulty pronouncing. In further experiments, the researchers found that individuals with easier to pronounce names are judged as being more familiar, less risky and less dangerous than those with names that are hard to pronounce.

"Fluency can influence judgement," said Eryn Newman, the study's lead author. "Our findings tell a clear story: People with easy names and their claims are evaluated more favourably.

"Our findings show that easy names can confer a host of benefits on the people who bear them."

The Telegraph also reports that another recent study found that people with easier to pronounce names were evaluated by employers more positively than their harder to pronounce counterparts.

Hmmm... we're not sure this is true however annoying it might be spelling out your name for people.

What do you think?

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