TIME TO CHANGE NAMES: How Renaming Shapes the Fates of People, Corporations, and Nations
Photo by Bruno Martins on Unsplash
The ancients believed that a name is destiny! Modern scientists share this view. According to their research, a name impacts a person’s appearance, character, career, and personal life. Changing a name can alter the fate of the world’s largest corporations and even entire nations and states.
SELF-ESTEEM, APPEARANCE, SEXUALITY
As early as the 2000s, American psychologist Jean M. Twenge studied the impact of names on self-esteem. She found a correlation between low self-esteem and dissatisfaction with one’s name. Does this mean the easiest way to improve yourself is to change your name? And there’s more…
German researchers analyzing dating sites discovered a connection between names and the frequency of being chosen as a romantic partner. So, could choosing an attractive name instantly make you more desirable in the eyes of the opposite sex?
Want to extend your lifespan? You might have already guessed what to do.
According to a hypothesis by scientists from the University of Michigan, names are linked to life expectancy. Data on African Americans who lived between 1809 and 1970 showed that individuals with names like Moses or Elijah lived, on average, one year longer than others.
Even correcting your appearance doesn’t necessarily require plastic surgery — simply choose a «beautiful» name.
In 2017, a group of psychologists from Israel and France asserted a connection between a person’s name and their appearance. Participants in their experiment were asked to select names for strangers in photographs from a prepared list. The likelihood of guessing names purely by chance was no more than 20%.
However, the actual match rate was higher — 28%. Another experiment revealed an even greater frequency of correct matches, doubling the expected rate. While the researchers confirmed this phenomenon, they admitted they couldn’t explain it.
AUTHORITY, YOUTH, KINDNESS
If you want to enhance your status in the eyes of others, names are here to help! Researchers at Syracuse University conducted an experiment involving 500 students. Participants were asked to rate 400 names popular over the last 70 years on a scale from 1 to 5. The results, published in New Scientist, revealed stark differences in how names are perceived.
Names like Hannah, Jessie, Melody, and Mia were deemed «kind» but lacked «authority». On the other hand, names like Arnold, Gerard, Herbert, and Lawrence were seen as more «authoritative» but less «kind». Interestingly, female names generally ranked lower in authority compared to male names. Many names turned out to be neutral, such as Alvin, Dana, Dominic, Larry, Marco, Mercedes, Regina, Roy, Tracy, and Whitney.
The study also found that children named James or Elizabeth often excel academically because teachers tend to give them higher grades. For those wishing to appear younger, experts advised avoiding names like Betty or Bruce, which are perceived as aging. In contrast, names like Britney or Brenda carry a youthful image.
While many of these «special effects» can be attributed to trends, cultural norms, and gender stereotypes, not all of them can be explained away. Looking back to ancient traditions, we find that naming has always been considered a creative act of cosmic significance.
Remember the biblical story of the Garden of Eden, where God grants Adam the ability and right to name all creatures — beasts, cattle, and birds? In doing so, Adam became a co-creator and ruler of the animal kingdom.
CRISIS: A TIME TO CHANGE NAMES
In Confucian tradition, there is a concept known as the «rectification of names». Without a proper name, a person cannot find their place in the world, correct circumstances, or restore cosmic order. Modern business practices show that there is no mysticism in this idea.
Crisis often serves as the best motivation to bring order to one’s corporate universe — starting with the name. Everyone remembers the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The ecological disaster was blamed on British Petroleum. To overcome the reputational crisis, BP spent $211 million and even went as far as rebranding. Unfortunately, while names can do a lot, they are not omnipotent.
The new name, Beyond Petroleum, still fails to resonate with most people. Meanwhile, British Petroleum and the infamous oil spill remain etched in public memory. When the COVID-19 pandemic ended, 51% of American companies decided to rebrand. The problems caused by the virus led to a rethinking of values and business models.
Elon Musk took an aggressive and definitive break from the past and its values with his acquisition of Twitter. The decision to abandon the blue bird logo and adopt «X» as the platform’s new name was made in just 24 hours. In contrast, Steve Jobs took a more measured approach to his iconic logo.
Since the 1970s, Apple has used a rainbow-colored apple as its logo for decades. However, the company eventually realized that it didn’t align with its name. In a move reminiscent of Confucian principles, Apple replaced the rainbow with a simpler apple. Judging by the subsequent success of its smartphones, the change proved effective.
On the other hand, Facebook’s rebranding as Meta in 2021, while reflecting Mark Zuckerberg’s ambitious vision, was deemed mainly unsuccessful. Perhaps the «rectification» of the name didn’t align with the true nature of the product.
DON’T EAT THIS COUNTRY FOR CHRISTMAS!
Still, think Confucius exaggerated? Many governments, nations, and countries would disagree, as evidenced by the sheer number of name changes we see around the world. Recently, Turkey initiated its rebranding, now officially referring to itself as Türkiye in official documents rather than the English «Turkey».
This change is said to better reflect the «culture, civilization, and values of the Turkish people». But there’s another, less philosophical reason. Turks were unhappy that the English word «turkey» also refers to a bird traditionally eaten at Christmas, New Year’s, and Thanksgiving.
Worse, in the Cambridge Dictionary, the word «turkey» carries additional meanings like «fool», «blunderer», or «loser». Unwilling to be either roasted for the holidays or labeled as failures, the Turks made a wise decision to change their name.
They are not alone in seeking a change of fate through rebranding.
In 2020, the Netherlands asked the international community to refer to it as such rather than Holland. The reasoning? Holland is technically just one region of the country, which is unfair to the others.
Additionally, the name Holland had become globally associated with legalized prostitution and drugs — an image its residents wanted to distance themselves from.
NAMES: FOR AND AGAINST RACISM
A similar motivation lay behind Iran’s decision in 1935 to reject the global use of Persia. Persia (Parsuash or Fars) is merely one historical region along the Persian Gulf. By contrast, the name Iran — meaning «land of the Aryans» — sounds far more exalted.
Some believe Reza Shah Pahlavi’s insistence on the name Iran was influenced by the Iranian ambassador to Germany, who had fallen under the sway of Nazi ideology. The new name was intended to highlight the Aryan origins of its people. Though Iranian scholars deemed the decision historically inaccurate, their objections were ignored.
However, most name changes have been driven by a desire to shed painful colonial associations. A recent Nature article discussed how the International Botanical Congress considered renaming long-standing plant species, as many names are now seen as racist.
During the 19th and 20th centuries, European scientists often named newly discovered species after colonial rulers like Cecil Rhodes or used terms such as caffra, which is now considered offensive to Black people.
Rectifying these names is a powerful way to overcome the legacy of colonialism. For example, the French colony of Dahomey became Benin, the Dutch East Indies became Indonesia, Upper Volta transformed into Burkina Faso, the New Hebrides became Vanuatu, Hispaniola became Haiti, Bechuanaland turned into Botswana, Northern Rhodesia became Zambia, and the Ivory Coast became Côte d’Ivoire.
History abounds with examples of people seeking new identities by shedding unwanted old associations. Australia was once officially known as New Holland. New York City started as New Angoulême and later became New Amsterdam, and only in 1667 was it traded by the Dutch to the English for Suriname.
Canada’s Ottawa was initially called Wrightstown, then Bytown, and only became Ottawa in 1950. Ukraine’s Donetsk, before becoming Donetsk, was known as Yuzovka, Stalino, and, for a brief time, possibly Trotsk, in honor of the revolutionary Leon Trotsky.
The Bolsheviks were prolific in renaming, though often unimaginatively: no Soviet city was without streets named after Lenin, Engels, and Marx. Few now remember that the Jordanian capital, Amman, was called Philadelphia for over a thousand years. Oslo, the Norwegian capital, began as the Danish Viken, then became Akershus, and later Christiania.
In the early 19th century, Denmark ceded the future Norwegian capital to Sweden. Only in 1924 was it renamed Oslo — «meadow at the foot of the hill».
One can’t help but wonder if the names we know today are permanent. History marches on, and with it, people will continue to change names in hopes of forging new, better destinies.
The English, however, see this game of name changes differently. It’s said that England, throughout its history, has never renamed a single place. The British heart cherishes even the most frightful names, like Devil’s Hole or Devil’s Dyke. Locals proudly declare: «Yes, we live in Devil’s Hole! And, damn it, we’re proud of it!»
