What’s in a Name?

There is broad research indicating that individuals, over time, adopt traits and behaviors linked to their names, that people often make assumptions about others based on their names, and that a person’s name can significantly influence how we perceive them.

I had a friend in college named Kiki. It fit her perfectly. She was petite and bubbly, a real cheerleader type. Then she married Brian Hickey and became the brunt of jokes. My dad had a business associate named Wilbert Pudberd. He was a kind, competent, hard-working man, but when he wore a name tag, he endured stifled snickers from most of the people he met.

This has made me wonder how different 20th century history might be if Hitler’s first name had been Harold.

While most parents have relegated “Adolf” to the bottom of most “What to Name Your Child” lists, it does appear to have served Hitler well as a rising politician. According to the internet, “Adolf is a German masculine name emboldened with unmistakable ferocity.” It literally means “noble wolf” — a moniker that almost certainly evoked a sense of strength and nobility in 1930’s Berlin. But what if Adolf’s name had been Harold?

Would a kid named “Harold Hitler” have, over time, adopted traits and behaviors linked to that name rather than to the more ferocious “Adolf”?

Could the people of Berlin have been as easily seduced by that “scowl-eyed, stocky, middle class, right-wing rabble-rouser with a toothbrush moustache and fly-away hair” if his name had been Harold?

Wise Ask: What do you think?

Share your answer below.