Roger Clemens, one of the most prolific strikeout pitchers in baseball history, gave all four of his sons names that begin with a K, which is the baseball symbol for a strikeout. Last season, his oldest son, Koby, a minor league third baseman for the Lexington (Ky.) Legends, struck out 112 times, more than anyone else on his team.
According to a recent study, there could be a correlation between Koby Clemens's name and his performance at the plate - especially if he likes his name.
The study, published in the December issue of Psychological Science, found that people who like their names have an "unconscious fondness" for words that begin with the same letter. And that fondness can sabotage people's success.
Have a name that features the initials C or D? According to the study, you're more likely to get grades that feature those initials than those whose names feature an A or a B.
Study co-author Leif Nelson, of the University of California-San Diego, said they were interested in previous research on the so-called "name-letter effect" - such as one study that found people named Jack were more likely to move to Jacksonville, marry Jackie, and drive a Jaguar, while people named Dennis were more likely to become dentists - but wanted to see if it could also relate unconsciously to performance.
"We're both really big baseball fans, and we did some research and found that K initial players struck out more," said Nelson, who worked with Joseph Simmons, an assistant marketing professor at the Yale School of Management. "The findings seemed really bizarre, and we were skeptical that it was random chance. But once we'd tested the idea in a number of domains and run an experiment, we convinced ourselves that it was solid."
After applying their thesis to academia, they found that C and D initials had lower grade-point averages than their A and B classmates, and were less likely to get into a top-tier law school.
Interestingly, it was only people with C and D names who suffered. Those with initials later in the alphabet performed as well as the A and B students, leading the researchers to theorize that it is a one-way, negative street.
Also, they found that the problem lay with the person, not with other people's perceptions of the person. (They supported this claim by running an experiment asking people to solve 10 anagrams for the chance to win money.
Volunteers were quicker to give up on the anagrams and settle for the consolation prize when it was labeled with their first initial, such as Brenda getting Prize B.)
"Our understanding is that everyone wants to do well, so unconsciously wanting it a little bit more isn't going to offer you any boon," Nelson said. "On the other hand, if you found strikeouts less aversive because your name begins with a K, now you're talking.
"Failures are by their very nature a lot easier to achieve. It makes some intuitive sense that there should be asymmetries in this, so they can only worsen your performance and not mysteriously and spontaneously improve them."
Laura Wattenberg, who has a master's degree in research psychology and is the author of "The Baby Name Wizard," said that while she believes people are drawn to names that match their own in some way, she's skeptical about putting so much weight behind initials.
"I'm not doubting because I don't think names are important," she said. "I'm doubting because I think names are very significant, but I'm not sure that peeling off that first letter is what matters most."
As far as practical applications of the study, Nelson said the name-letter effect is so small that considering it when choosing a name borders on paranoia. "Every other factor is probably more important than this one, but this one's not quite zero," he said.
Still, when his daughter was born, he said his wife made sure they skipped the C's and D's in the baby books.
"Better safe than sorry," he said.
