Names, Identity, and Self

Abstract

Along with other scholars, some psychologists have proposed a relationship between a person's name and her or his sense of identity and self. The evidence concerning this proposition, drawn from several areas of psychology, is the subject of this paper. Studies of (a) personal identity, (b) names and self-acceptance, and (c) attention and memory for one's name, respectively, are presented and discussed. This diverse research leads to the conclusion that names, identity, and self are indeed closely related.