Psychological Factors Affecting Preferences for First Names

Abstract

Abstract

Anecdotal and anthropological evidence suggests that personal names are of considerable psychological significance, but they have not received much attention from psychologists. The relationship between the familiarity of first names and the degree to which they lare liked is of particular interest from the point of view of research in related areas of experimental aesthetics. Evidence from investigations carried out in England and Australia suggests that there is a strong tendency for first names to be liked in direct proportion to their familiarity: in general, the most familiar names tend to be best liked and the least familiar names to be most strongly disliked. These findings are dicussed in relation to previous research into familiarity and liking for letters of the alphabet and words, and a hypothesis is developed which may account for the cyclical vogues in first names and certain other cultural objects.