According to a handful of studies, a name not only reveals clues about a person`s class, education and ethic origin, it can also influence the bearer of the moniker and the choices they make in life.
Scientists have even drawn conclusions to suggest that people are often drawn to things and people that sound like their own names.
These experts claim that `implicit egotism` is the reason that someone called Dennis might become a dentist or even that a child whose name begins with a B or C may fare worse in school examinations.
That a person`s name may be bound to his or her destiny is far from a new phenomenon. The Ancient Romans promoted the concept `nomenest omen`, meaning `name is destiny.`
Studies have indeed shown that those with more conservative, `Caucasian` names are more successful when submitting resumes for employment.
And a recent poll conducted in Australia revealed that people respond more warmly to colleagues and politicians with names they can easily pronounce.
Yet parents nowadays are putting that much more effort into giving their offspring original names that are largely unfamiliar.
Though historically names have been passed down through families of gleaned from the Bible, in recent days the tendency has been to think outside the box and consider movies, songs and stories for inspiration.
When Britney Spears rose to fame the slightly altered Brittaney became wildly popular among new parents and recently, thanks to the Twilight series, Isabella has made a comeback.
One study found that 30 percent of African American girls born in California during the 1990s were given unique names that they shared with not a single person born in the same year in the same state.
Dr Martin Ford of George Mason University, however, believes a name does not stand for much.
He explained to The Week: `Names only have a significant influence when that is the only thing you know about the person. Add a picture, and the impact of the name recedes. Add information about personality, motivation, and ability, and the impact of the name shrinks to minimal significance.`
一系列研究顯示，名字不但能透露一個人所處的階層、教育背景和種族出身，還能對一個人的人生以及在人生中所做的選擇產生影響。
科學家甚至得出結論稱，人們經常被與自己名字發音相近的事物和人吸引。
這些專家稱，名叫鄧尼斯的人可能成為一個牙醫（英文與之發音相近），甚至名字以B或C開頭的孩子可能在學校測驗中表現更差，這些都是由“內隱自我主義”導致的。
如果說一個人的名字可能和自己的命運相連，這根本不是什麼新現象。古羅馬人崇尚nomenest omen的觀念，意思是“名字就是命運”。
確實有研究顯示，那些名字更保守、聽起來更像白種人名字的人在提交求職簡歷時成功率更高。
近日一項在澳大利亞開展的民意調查揭示，人們對名字好發音的同事和政界人士反應更熱情。
然而現在的父母們卻花費那麼多心力來給自己的孩子取一個別出心裁的名字，而大多數這樣的名字都讓人感到陌生。
儘管過去人的名字都是從聖經中採集到的，在家庭中世代相傳，但近來人們取名傾向於打破傳統思維，從電影、歌曲和故事中找尋靈感。
在布蘭妮 斯皮爾斯成名之時，由她的名字稍作修改而成的布裏曇妮受到了新父母的瘋狂追捧，而近來由於《暮光之城》系列電影的走紅，伊薩貝拉又成了受歡迎的名字。
一項研究發現，20世紀90年代在加州出生的非裔美國女孩，有30%被冠以獨特的名字，這些人的名字有別於同年在加州出生的其他任何人。
然而，喬治梅森大學的馬丁 福德博士認為名字並沒有那麼大的象徵意義。
他向《本週》雜誌解釋說：“只有在你除了人名外對那個人一無所知的情況下，名字才會產生重大的影響力。多一張照片，名字的影響力就會減弱。再多一些個性、動機、能力等方面的資訊，名字的影響力就會縮減到最小。”
