How do you remember names? (completely off-topic)

stoked Member

From: Switzerland Registered: 2009-01-09 Posts: 378 Website

This is completely off-topic, but uhh... "chat to your heart's content!"

I'm terrible at remembering names and it's time to fix that. Let's say you're invited to a party and get to know 15 new faces. How many names will you remember and how do you do it? There must be some technique to memorize names quickly and recall them easily.

Suggestions? Thoughts? Thanks!

Last edited by stoked (2009 April 03, 6:40 am)

mentat_kgs Member

From: Brasil Registered: 2008-04-18 Posts: 1671 Website

I remember names, but can't remember the faces. Mnemonics for faces might be a bit harder to find. Ehehe.

Asriel Member

From: 東京 Registered: 2008-02-26 Posts: 1343

When it comes to people and their names, I can do name -> face, but I have a hard time going face -> name.
I can remember faces really well. Almost too well, sometimes.

I was at a party one time and there was this guy who I thought looked like a "Mike." Throughout the night I called him Mike, Carlos, David, Clark, and Stevie. It was pretty terrible until he got used to the fact that I always came up with a new name.

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undead_saif Member

From: Mother Earth Registered: 2009-01-28 Posts: 635

It's almost impossible for me to remember someones name from the first time, it take 2-3 times to memorize it.

Tobberoth Member

From: Sweden Registered: 2008-08-25 Posts: 3364

There are some good techniques, but in general, it's enough to simply concentrate when introduced. Most people are fully concentrated on themselves, saying their name, taking their hand, being polite etc so they forget to actually listen for the name.

Next time, make sure you put all your concentration on hearing the name... think about if you know someone else named the same thing, that's a great connection to make.

Hashiriya Member

From: Georgia Registered: 2008-04-14 Posts: 1072

you pick out something that particularly stands out about a person when you 1st meet them and you try to associate their name with that when you hear it...

igordesu Member

From: Wisconsin USA Registered: 2008-09-22 Posts: 428

remembering names is almost impossible for me. I could be someone's partner in a class for two semesters and still not know the person's name. They're like, "hey! Dave!" I'm like, "hey!...person!..." I'll remember a face forever though...

mentat_kgs Member

From: Brasil Registered: 2008-04-18 Posts: 1671 Website

I call the guy who sits next to me everyday in the lab by the wrong name once or twice a day.
But I'ts not that I don't remember him or his name. It is that if I'm talking about another person, I tend to say that person's name instead.

andrewlandry New member

From: New York City Registered: 2009-02-02 Posts: 8

I had been thinking about this recently, because I've historically been horrible with names. And since mnemonics were helping me so much with Kanji, I figured I'd give it a try on people.

The last party I went to, every time someone introduced themselves to me, I figured out what stuck out the most about them. If they had some weird feature or what kind of person they seemed like and made an association.

And much like the stories on this site, the meaner and more inappropriate, the better. I still remember the names of the people I met that night.

Blahah Member

From: Cambridge, UK Registered: 2008-07-15 Posts: 715 Website

I have no problems remembering names, ever since I was a child and was taught how to remember people's names. You will see people in business and other situations where you must put a lot of names to faces using this technique:

Shake the person's hand whilst looking directly at their face and repeat their name back to them. Repeat the name again out loud and then once to yourself, before moving on.

When you repeat their name it should sound natural...

"Hi, I'm John."
*shaking hands*
"John, I'm Richard. It's nice to meet you John." (while concentrating on their face)
Repeat the name to yourself. Next person!

You'll probably look a bit weird the first couple of times but this technique works well - people appreciate it when you remember them. After a while it becomes second nature.

Last edited by Blahah (2009 April 03, 12:16 pm)

bodhisamaya Guest

It is interesting to note that people give as Bill Clinton's secret to political success his ability to remember names. People will meet him once and then ten years later upon meeting them again he addresses them by their name. I grew up in Arkansas when he was re-elected governor five times as a far left liberal in perhaps the most conservative state in America. It is a powerful thing to remember people's names.

Last edited by bodhisamaya (2009 April 03, 1:48 pm)

kazelee Rater Mode

From: ohlrite Registered: 2008-06-18 Posts: 2132 Website

From here

http://forum.koohii.com/viewtopic.php?pid=50063#p50063

@liosama

I was speaking more of whether or not the person manages to pronounce the name correctly after you've told them your name. If you say your name is Matt and the person hears Mack, the person will continue to call you Mack until you emotionally reproach him or her.

In the way you outline it, if a person breaks down a name into producible components they can remember it. This is why at first I typed, Qhe Ja, and then Way Ha. The words transform to something the person can produce. They may or may not resemble the actual pronunciation. This transformation then makes the name as transparent as an American one.

One could argue that the transformation of the name is as much a problem as asking a person to use a more familiar one (hint hint lol*), but most names in their current incarnation are hacks of names that existed long ago.

I think I might be safe in assuming a vast majority of (English speaking) people forget names. Probably has to do with what little importance and meaning we give them. As an example, I'd be more inclined to remember the name of a person named... Precious, Prudence, Autumn, April, Coach, Chevy, Porche, Ford, Mercedes, (noticing a pattern) Chandler, Ross, Premium, Lucious, Bovine, Lemon, Shaniqua, Jorge, Mario, Carlos...

There's a high chance of me remembering these names because of the amount of associations with them, though, there's also a high chance of me confusing people who have these names. If all these names were to be present at a party it would be literal hell trying to remember who is who without making that extra effort like... this is Chandler, Chandler with the blue shirt, Chandler with the blue shirt who likes apples, Chandler with the blue shirt who likes apples and has been staring at Shaniqua with the black dress with long red fingernails and blue eyes (weren't expecting that were you) maybe I should introduce rubber smelling Chandler to Shaniqua with her rough skin.

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