The Power of Names

Introduction
A person’s name has deep, underlying power. A name is much more than just words or symbols used to represent or identify an individual. According to English Professor Dr. Debra Walker King, names can provide people with their cultural roots, family values, and history, as well as give them certain behavioral expectations, prejudices, and stereotypes (1996).
Impact on Self-Concept
An individual’s name can affect his or her self-concept by the type of verbal or nonverbal reaction it evokes from his or her companions (The Nomenology Project, 1999). H. Edward Deluzain stated that a person’s name has an impact on his or her self-concept because the name helps determine the messages other people send to him or her (1996). In Deluzain’s journal he discusses an experiment conducted by S. Gary Garwood of Tulane University about the perceptions and effects of desirable and undesirable names. During the first part of the experiment, Garwood asked a group of teachers to ...