I was wondering: Do you think that your name effects how people view you? I think so. I don't have any scientific facts to back me up, just personal experience. So, what do you think?

-- Anonymous, August 25, 2001

Answers

I do not think my name affects how people view me.

-- Anonymous, August 25, 2001

I think so. I think that we, either consciously or not, develop a little list of traits to associate with each name, good or bad.

I personally have a list of names that I hate, and as a result find it hard to get past that if I meet someone with said name. However, and maybe it's a self fulfilling prophecy (well, not quite "self" fulling, but you get the point,) but those people usually are the horrible things I imagine them to be. i.e. conceited, bitchy, slutty, etc.

As for whether I treat someone differently because of their name, I will always give them a chance, but remain on my guard until I have them somewhat figured out. Just to be on the safe side....

-- Anonymous, August 26, 2001

I think it would be hard not to judge people by what their name is, considering the number of people all of us know and the intimacy of those relationships.

Let's say you have the boss from hell. His name is David. He makes you work overtime without pay. He leers at you in the hallway. He calls you sweetcheeks. He tells everyone that you're fired at the end of each workweek. He eats onions for lunch everyday. You hate him and want him dead. This goes on for months and maybe even years.

The next David you meet is probably not going to be a guy you want to hang around with, no matter how cool and not like your boss he is.

-- Anonymous, August 26, 2001

Or say there's an April or Kelly, that "steals" your sig. other away, the next April or Kelly you run into probably isnt going to strike your fancy right away..or at all, because of the name and the past experience you had. Erm, yeah.

-- Anonymous, August 26, 2001

I definitely think my name effects how people view me. I don't think it's necessarily with everyone I encounter, however I agree in that I've had personal experiences where people percieved me as being someone different than I actually am.

Once when being introduced to a friend of a friend, I was apparently viewed as being some kind of a foreigner. The person actually thought I was from Europe, particularly France because of my name.

Um, no. Thanks?

-- Anonymous, August 27, 2001