Hellobee Boards

Nope - I think names can affect people's initial perceptions of a person, but I don't think they affect actual personality.

Yes! There is actually quite a bit of research on names and people's expectations/reactions to different kinds of names, such that names effect how people treat you which can then affect personality, and that people tend to name their kids based on their own personality such that artistic people might give their kids artistic names, adventurous people would give adventurous names, and then they are raised by those parents. So it seems there are a lot of things at play. One really sad thing is that resumes with "black" names get selected a LOT less often than common "white" names regardless of qualifications such that a highly qualified and experienced "Jamal" would get selected for an interview much less often than a lesser qualified "James". And then there are things like how Myrtle is assumed older than Brittney, Bertha is assumed less attractive than Giselle, etc. David Figlio has some interesting research on names.