What's in a Name?

Often I've found myself at a party where there's a few people that scream 'out-of-your-league' rad. It's usually easy to find them. Like a peacock, their fabulously flamboyant feathers (or yellow socks with Doc Martens) stick them out from the crowd and place them gently on the proverbial 'rad' pedestal. You'll swan over to them and make some trivial comment about the artwork / bar decor / weather and jump straight into small talk a.k.a polite yet obligatory introductions.

“What's your name?” you genuinely ask. Clearly not going to be Captain Rad, the well-styled stranger announces...

Phoenix
Tallulah
Imogen
Rainbow
River
Fawcett

It is in this writer’s opinion that only the creme de la creme can pull off names like these... particularly Fawcett. Mock all you want but Farrah had it as a last name so it's not that far fetched.

So with my EC editor breathing constantly down my neck I thought we should pose the following questions...

- Is there a different reaction to different names?

- Do people sum you up as soon as they meet you?

- Does your sole identity in this world lie in the hands of a mere one-to-three syllables??

Of course it does.

So, now with a fairly heavy-duty point to solidify, I gave my girlfriends an (original) excuse to head out for a night on the town sporting a variety of monikers.

The rules were simple. Pick three names, use them wisely and report back the results.

Why three? What field research isn't solidified without variables? So with one name exotic, one 'average' name and one horrible* name, the most important things were to stay focused, stay away from places where you'd be noticed or god forbid recognised, and make damn sure you kept a straight face.

Stay tuned for the (hilarious) results.


EC - Style is a Language

*The horrible name could be a personal or generally known 'bad' name. It was also important to steer clear of names that are usually sported by evil characters in Disney movies.