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.'

一系列研究显示，名字不但能透露一个人所处的阶层、教育背景和种族出身，还能对一个人的人生以及在人生中所做的选择产生影响。

科学家甚至得出结论称，人们经常被与自己名字发音相近的事物和人吸引。

这些导师称，名叫邓尼斯的人可能成为一个牙医（英文与之发音相近），甚至名字以B或C开头的孩子可能在学校测验中表现更差，这些都是由“内隐自我主义”导致的。

如果说一个人的名字可能和自己的命运相连，这根本不是什么新现象。古罗马人崇尚nomenest omen的观念，意思是“名字就是命运”。

确实有研究显示，那些名字更保守、听起来更像白种人名字的人在提交求职简历时成功率更高。

近日一项在澳大利亚开展的民意调查揭示，人们对名字好发音的同事和政界人士反应更热情。

然而现在的父母们却花费那么多心力来给自己的孩子取一个别出心裁的名字，而大多数这样的名字都让人感到陌生。

尽管过去人的名字都是从圣经中采集到的，在家庭中世代相传，但近来人们取名倾向于打破传统思维，从电影、歌曲和故事中找寻灵感。

在布兰妮•斯皮尔斯成名之时，由她的名字稍作修改而成的布里昙妮受到了新父母的疯狂追捧，而近来由于《暮光之城》系列电影的走红，伊萨贝拉又成了受欢迎的名字。

一项研究发现，20世纪90年代在加州出生的非裔美国女孩，有30%被冠以独特的名字，这些人的名字有别于同年在加州出生的其他任何人。

然而，乔治梅森大学的马丁•福德博士认为名字并没有那么大的象征意义。

他向《本周》杂志解释说：“只有在你除了人名外对那个人一无所知的情况下，名字才会产生重大的影响力。多一张照片，名字的影响力就会减弱。再多一些个性、动机、能力等方面的信息，名字的影响力就会缩减到最小。”

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