Naming a child is difficult, so much so that there are many books and tools to help parents make the tricky decision. Parents often begin picking out a baby’s name long before the child is even born. Recent studies suggest that it is important to consider a name carefully because a name often has lasting effects on a person for their entire life.
Our names play a significant role in our lives. One’s given nameis the first sound that a person learns to connect with themselves, and names help us form a sense of identity. Names might even help shape our personalities. A child who has a name that is difficult to pronounce will experience a lot of frustrationand might find it difficult to connect with others.
Also, our names can reveal hintsabout our ethnicbackground or social class. Certain names have positive or negative meanings within a culture. When we meet somebody new, it only takes several seconds to form a first impression based on the information we are given. A name is an important part of that information. Therefore, the sound and meaning of a person’s name can affect the way people react to that person.
