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.'

(Read by Emily Cheng. Emily Cheng is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

點擊查看更多雙語新聞

(Agencies)