An astonishing finding from Israeli scientists at Reichman University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem shows that a person’s name really affects their appearance.
The scientists call this the “face-name matching effect.” When participants looked at a stranger’s face, they picked that person’s name from a list with remarkable accuracy — even better than if they were just guessing.
That leads to a couple of possibilities. Either parents see their baby’s face and choose a name that somehow fits, or our name shapes our appearance over time so we come to look like it — enough that other people notice.
During the study, the team ran a series of experiments, BBC Science Focus reported.
In one test, volunteers were asked to match adult and child faces to their correct names. Performance was better for adult faces than for children’s faces.
Interpreting these results, the scientists suggested that over time we gradually grow to look like our name, rather than being born with a name that already suits our face.
In a second experiment, the team used machine learning to measure facial similarities between people who share the same name and people with different names. They found that adults with the same name showed significant similarity in facial features, while children with the same name did not.
That’s why people who share the same name become more similar to each other over time.
How our names shape who we become
The researchers think people probably absorb the stereotypes tied to their name and, over the years, subconsciously alter their appearance to match that name.
Take the name Tyler, which has masculine connotations in some cultures. A boy named Tyler might internalize those ideas and live them out by getting into sports and outdoor activities. The name could even give him confidence in social situations.
Meanwhile, his lifestyle and habits will gradually shape an athletic face and jawline that fit the Tyler stereotype.
Unfortunately, names can also have negative effects. Other people often act on the stereotypes that a name evokes.
For example, if a teacher associates a certain name with unruly behavior, they’re likely to treat a student with that name with bias. That, in turn, can create a negative attitude toward school in that child.
This echoes a study by psychologists at Humboldt University in Berlin and Duke University in the U.S., which showed that a person’s name can influence how others perceive them.
The study found that people with less popular names were less likely to succeed in situations like online dating or getting help from a stranger. Names that carry negative associations can even derail a person’s life path.
Authors of earlier studies have also suggested that having an uncommon name might push a person toward choosing an unusual career.
