What your name says about
you?
I have always fantasized about being with a woman
named Joanna or Karla. I imagine them to be sensible but spontaneous,
thoughtful without being dramatic, and obviously good looking. I have nothing
to base any of these conclusions on. They are just beautiful names and I can’t
imagine any Karla or Joanna being anyway else. I am also confident that never
has a Joanna or Karla ever dreamed of being with a conceptual Robert. I’m
probably right.
A research on People names
reveals that your name related with your character. You can also identify a
person character using his/her name.

According
to researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, my name is just not sexy.
In 2004, these researchers
determined that the sexes assess names as being either appealing or unappealing
based upon certain factors. Most interestingly, names are subconsciously
appealing based on how important the first vowel is to vocalizing them.
A two-syllable name can be
stressed in the front or the back end. For men, sexy names were stressed in the
front. For women, sexy names were in the back. Matthew is stressed at front and
is perceived as sexy. Which might explains Matthew McConaughey’s enduring
cinematic career.
The consequences for the
rest of us? Well, sorry, Nina. Sorry, Judy. Feel free to join me and my friends
Cindy and Paul in the club of kids jealous of our fre-name-ies with names like
Craig and Sofia. If only we’d have gone to high school together, unsexy namers.
We could have all sat and enjoyed our anti-prom, enlightened discussions on
amine, and simply settled on gross first kisses with our unsexy selves.
This study came to my mind
a few weeks ago. I was at a packed club in Chinatown, New York. For reasons I’m
sure an evolutionary biologist could explain, I was undergoing the essential
act of greeting all the men near the section I was standing (VIP. Holla.) In
such a high-energy, sexualized environment, all male egos have to be
neutralized by demonstrating to each other a spirit of respect and good faith.
Anyway, everyone was super
friendly and I found myself talking to a pleasant, dark haired, Italian-looking
gentleman. He told me his name, which I forgot, and then I told him my name. He
leaned closer toward me, and almost as if he was making a confession, told me
that he, too, was named Robert. He had told me his middle name; which he
explained was the name that he went by as an adult. A soberness tainted his
voice. It was if he was either ashamed to have abandoned the fraternity of
Roberts or felt bad I had to be stuck with it. Either way I laughed and our
interaction got me thinking.
Despite the feeling that
everyone has an uncle Robert somewhere in their family tree, it isn’t a name I
encounter often. Whenever I do, it often comes with a twist: Rob. Bob. Bobby.
Robbie. Whatever. Somewhere, I missed the memo that Roberts aren’t supposed to
stay Roberts. And then it gets worse.
I was cursed with
potentially the most unsexy name since Frasier Crane. Robert Oswald Wohner.
Three names. Three long Os. Together, it is a cacophony that celebrates a love
for Mets baseball, unintended abstinence, and a permanent residence in the
Friendzone.
This former Robert at the club
had abandoned the
life that could have been destined for him. He now was handsome enough to look
like a member of One Direction and friendly enough to share details about
himself with strangers. In every way, he was a cool person. He knew he deserved
better than what his birth name would have demanded.
Yet I am that Robert, a
name worthy of leading the Confederacy but dateless at prom; ready to be
quarterback of the Washington Redskins or play your favorite Hufflepuffian
vampire but never scribbled inside marble notebooks, adorned by hearts and
kisses. It’s sobering.
I’m not alone. What
transforms an Elizabeth into a Beth or Liz? A Zachary to a Zac? A Joshua to a
Josh? Can we escape the limitations are names set for us? Do such limitations
exist at all?
Growing up, I fully felt
like a Robert, partially because my brother was named Ivan. Our names suited
each our personalities. He was in every way an Ivan: master baker, computer
programmer, songwriter, relationship therapist, thesbian, academic. I was
Robert, the loner who played LEGO Racers on our home computer. In a way, his
Ivan-ness illuminated my Robert-ness. And like most shy kids, you simply grow
up conceding the family spotlight. I don’t know what would have changed if our
names were reversed, but I don’t worry about that anymore.
For me, maturing involved
determining the unintended influences on my life and reevaluating which would
continue to define my thinking, values, and personality. A name is just a piece
of the puzzle. So while I don’t love being Robert, I like being myself. And my
name is a part of that. I do think there is something to our names sharping how
we see ourselves. But the legacy is just one part of accepting our pasts in
order to dictate our futures.
That night
in Chinatown was everything I hope a Saturday night to be. I didn’t pay for my
alcohol. The DJ played “Wild Ones.” In that space, being Robert only mattered
as much as I let it matter. Which isn’t to say I suddenly assumed my suave
alter ego, Roberto. I didn’t. Watching me dance makes it gloriously obvious
that, Robert or no Robert, I can do unsexy all by myself.
Have fun with your name but don’t take it serious if you think
your name is sexy then it is sexy if you think it is not then it is not.
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