Our name has the power to influence our career path, city of residence, academic achievements, longevity, the quality and the effort we put in work, being hired for a job or accepted in a school, and even the person we would commit to.
Before changing your name, think carefully about the effect your name change might have on your professional reputation and personal relationships. Once your name is changed, you will no longer be able to use your old name in government and legal documents and will permanently be known by your new name.
Our names are an incredibly important part of our identity. They carry deep personal, cultural, familial, and historical connections. They also give us a sense of who we are, the communities in which we belong, and our place in the world.
Research suggests that your name affects the level of success you'll achieve in your career and love life, and even where you choose to live.
Even the culture can have a non-negligible effect. Indeed, within a culture, names can be common or rare. Their meaning can carry a positive or negative connotation as fashionable, unfashionable, liked, or disliked. Consequently, proper names affect how people treat us and how we feel about ourselves.
We use them to identify ourselves and they become part of our identity. Thus, as important as it is to pronounce names correctly, it is equally important to write and use them correctly. Calling someone by his/her right surname can generate a sense of belonging.
Picking out a name is a powerful and consequential process. Names convey and create meaning. They reveal something about who we are, where we come from, and where we're headed.
Feel good hormones, such as dopamine and serotonin, are released into your brain when your ears encode that your name has just been said aloud. This burst of excitement makes people happy and sends unconscious signals such as empathy, trust, and compassion to the unconscious brain.
So are our names our destiny? They undoubtedly have influence, but "destiny" is too strong a word. "Names only have a significant influence when that is the only thing you know about the person," says psychologist Dr. Martin Ford of George Mason University.
People choose to change their legal names for an array of reasons and, sometimes, for no reason as all. It's perfectly legal unless it is for fraudulent or deceptive purposes. Here are some of the most popular reasons people decide to change their names.
A computer analysis found that people with the same name were more likely to share similar expressions around their eyes and mouths, areas of the face that are easier to adjust.
There are many benefits to a name change
First of all, it can give you a fresh start. Whether you want to put a difficult past behind you, escape the attentions of a stalker or start fresh during a new phase in your life, a legal name change can be very empowering.
Nala: Also spelled Nahla, this African name means "successful" and is perfect for fans of The Lion King.
The rarest baby boy name is Rome, but other rare baby boy names include Chester, Henley, and Maynard. Finding a rare baby boy name means discovering a unique fit for your little one. Throughout their life, they'll have a special spot in the world and likely won't meet too many others with their moniker.
The United States has very few laws governing given names. This freedom has given rise to a wide variety of names and naming trends. Naming traditions play a role in the cohesion and communication within American cultures.
Once again, the most popular names for babies born in the United States are Liam and Olivia—Liam has topped the list for six years in a row, and Olivia has been the top choice for new parents for four years.
Parents have the right to name or change the name of their children.
There are a number of reasons why you might have a rare surname. Names linked to niche professions that no longer exist, migration, colloquialisms and even entire families being wiped out during war could contribute to your family name being less common than others. Then again, it could simply be destiny.
As offsprings of each generation can be either male or female and only the males carry on family names, the family name becomes extinct if male descendants die out. This is also related to the Y chromosome transmission in genetics.
A hyphenated last name is when you and your spouse combine both of your last names with a hyphen. This is also called a double surname.