Calgary study finds link between first names and first impressions

If yourfirst nameisMolly or Leo, then you'reeasy-going.But if you happen to be a Kirk or a Kate, then you're the opposite moreof aType A.

That's according to a new study out of the University of Calgary published in PLOS ONE, which reveals that we make judgements about people's personalities based on how "round"or "sharp"their name sounds.

Bouba/kiki effect

The research expands on thebouba/kiki effect, a well-known finding in the world of psychology thatsuggests humans associate certain language sounds with certain shapes.

"Thenon-word bouba people seem to think that goes along better with round shapes. Butthe non-word kiki, for example, people seem to think that goes along better with sharp shapes," saidDavid Sidhu, the University of Calgary phychologyPhD student who led the research.

But Sidhutook this populartheory a step further, testing for the first time ifpeople link certain shapes andpersonality traitswith real firstnames.

Names and shapes

In thefirst test, Sidhupresentedtest subjects with two popular baby names and a pair ofsilhouettes one that was round and blobby and one that was sharp and pointy.

The pictures were not even of real people, but of cartoonaliens that Sidhu foundonline. He toldparticipants to imagine that the extraterrestrialswere new to earth, and neededappropriate names.

"We found that, even with first names, people associatenames like Bob with the round silhouettes and names like Kirk with the sharp silhouettes," said Sidhu, who adds that gender also playeda role.

He sayspeople often matched female names with the round silhouettes and male names with the more sharp and jagged profiles.

Names and personalities

"We wanted to go a little bit further and see if people will associate different personality traits with different names," said Sidhu.

So heasked participants to list adjectivesthey thought bestdescribe a "round and curvy"personalityand a "sharp and spiky" personality.

Then, Sidhupresentedthe most popular adjectives from each group, such as gentleness and sarcasm, to histest subjects and asked them to best match them to a list of'round' and 'sharp'names.

"So a name like Bob or Molly, for example, it's a bit smoother when you say itversus a name likeKirk or Kate, which kind of has this abruptness to it," he said.

"People will match those kinds of qualities, like abruptness or smoothness, metaphorically with these traits like being easy goingor maybe being rude."