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Old 12-30-2016, 08:09 AM
 
283 posts, read 326,122 times
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Growing up I had a friend with the last name "Cash" and things always seemed to go his way. He always seemed to get the breaks

I had another friend who's last name is known for being a part of a certain genders genitalia and things also seemed to go wrong for him

My last name is presidential but my first name is awful and things seemed to go wrong for me as well

If you look at sports, the most notable athletes tend to have first or last names that have some lore to it


NFL - Manning, Brady, Favre, Wilson, Luck
NBA - Lebron, Kobe, Jordan, Duncan
MLB - Jeter, Ortiz, Lindor, Babe

Most of our presidents do as well

Trump, Bush, Washington, Carter

Do our names have an impact on how others treat/perceive us and our own personal confidence?
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Old 12-30-2016, 08:20 AM
 
Location: Philippines
1,211 posts, read 1,063,284 times
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https://www.buzzfeed.com/mikespohr/1...z3y#.uugXXEPLG
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Old 12-30-2016, 10:49 AM
 
Location: Wonderland
67,652 posts, read 60,440,091 times
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I like my first name a lot. My maiden name is German so it sounds like someone hacking up a lung when they say it. If they say it right which is hardly ever.

I was glad to trade it in for my husband's name, which is - or should be - easy to pronounce and spell. It's not a common last name but it's at least phonetic and pleasant sounding. Ironically, it's the name of a country - but it's not FROM that country at all. Isn't that weird? It's actually an Irish (Gaellic) last name but you'd never know it, because apparently when the Irish ancestor moved to America, the spelling was changed and it ended up being spelled like the name of another country entirely.

But I like it because it brings to mind a sort of exotic traveling destination and my first name is melodic and very pleasant sounding so overall I like the effect a lot. MUCH better than the German maiden name!

I told my parents "Change your surname if you don't like it - it's not like no one has ever done that before." My dad actually did change the PRONUNCIATION of it but not the actual spelling, which I would definitely have done if I'd been stuck with it for life.

Life is too short to be stuck with a bad name. It only costs about $300 to change one's name and believe me, I'd do it in a heartbeat if I had a bad first or last name.
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Old 12-30-2016, 11:32 AM
 
Location: equator
11,022 posts, read 6,564,832 times
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I wonder this sometimes. My sister and I were both subjected to "I have a dog with that name!"


Our names are Germanic too, not melodic at all. Though we are not German.


I'm sure that's why actors change their names....to sound more successful. I think names have a great deal to do with success. I'd sure change mine if I had a negative one. It's curious why people would go through life saddled with an awful name.
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Old 12-30-2016, 12:03 PM
 
Location: Middle America
37,409 posts, read 53,359,684 times
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My name hasn't ever affected my confidence. I do have a friend with a name that has stereotypical connotations that she feels prevents her from being taken seriously in professional settings (not the name or field, but picture being a corporate attorney named Barbie. Along those lines). I've never had that particular issue.
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Old 01-02-2017, 12:08 AM
 
636 posts, read 390,914 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JacksonBradu View Post
NBA - ...Duncan
Obviously he was going to be a successful basketball player.

However, Homer Bush didn't have a very successful baseball career.
But, Bob Walk wasn't a terrible pitcher
And Josh Outman didn't win a Cy Young award
But, neither did Matt Young. Anthony Young had a 3-30 W/L record over a 2 year span
The Only Nolan (The Only Nolan Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com) was upstaged by Nolan Ryan.
Even Oil Can Boyd eventually got creaky.





I certainly think it's possible for our names to have some impact on us, but I think you might be oversimplifying things a bit.
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Old 01-02-2017, 12:02 PM
jw2
 
2,028 posts, read 3,255,336 times
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Dick Butkus grew up in the south side of Chicago to one of the best middle linebackers in history. He certainly did not let his name get in his way.
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