The affective value of first names

Abstract

Attitudes towards 18 common men's and 18 common women's names were secured from 100 men and 108 women by (1) the method of paired comparisons, and (2) the method of absolute judgments. Common first names do have affective values, which can be measured by the methods mentioned. The two methods gave similar results. There is little indication that the affective value of the name is related to affective value of the letters making up the name. A high degree of relationship was found between men's and women's preferences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)