Correlates of Preferences for Personal Names with the Neo Five-Factor Inventory

Abstract

In a study of the relationship between liking of personal names and personality factors, 98 college students responded to the NEO Five-factor Inventory and rated how much they liked 60 different male and 60 different female names on 7-point Likert scales. Each list consisted of equal numbers of common, less common, dated, and rare names. Over-all, common names were preferred to less common, dated, and rare names; less common names were preferred to dated and rare names; and rare names were least preferred of all. Persons who scored higher in Extraversion or Agreeableness tended to report liking more personal names. Higher Agreeableness or Extraversion scores were associated with stronger preferences for both common or less common names but not for dated or rare names. This latter relationship was observed for male and female personal names separately, as well as over-all.