Shreya Panathula Week 13: The Art of Remembering Names
You know that feeling when you meet someone for the first time, ask for their name, then promptly forget it? Then you meet them the next day and for some reason, since the universe seems to be against you, they call you out by your name and you are somehow forced to recollect theirs?
I’ve been in that type of situation way too many times for my liking. It happens every single time I meet somebody new. I hear their name and proceed to forget it before they even take a breath to say their next word.
As a result, I have started repeating their names, parroting it back to them as though I am checking for pronunciation, just hoping that I will actually remember it this time. The technique, suffice to say, has yet to work. And in order to not be in that embarrassing situation of asking for their name yet again when they so clearly remember yours, I wait patiently, a couple of minutes, a couple of days (we don’t talk about that one time it took a month) for someone else to call them by their name. For some reason, after running into them a few times, once their face has fully registered, the name seems to stick.
Yet, I have often wondered, why is it so easy to forget names but not faces? Well, it is just one simple and, to be perfectly honest, painful fact. Every single one of our names is frankly just meaningless to the people around us (Eddy).
I know, right? The first time I read that I was also put off by this fact. How could a name, a core part of your identity—the very way you introduce yourself—be meaningless to others? It is not on purpose, however. The fact of the matter is that unless you put meaning to a name, whether it is relating it to people or to other things that you already know, it will remain unmemorable to you. Obviously, this won’t completely fix the problem—especially if you’re like me and tend to forget names the moment you hear them, no matter how hard you try—but it’s an important step in the right direction toward mastering the art of remembering names.
Works Cited
Eddy, Anne. “Why We Remember Faces but Not Names? Strategies To ...” Why We Remember Faces but Not Names? Strategies to Remember Names, 26 Apr. 2022, web.colby.edu/cogblog/2022/04/26/why-we-remember-faces-but-not-names-strategies-to-remember-names/#:~:text=Well, you are not alone,them (Higbee, 2001). Accessed 19 Mar. 2025.
“Why Do We Forget Names?” AARP, www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aarp.org%2Fhealth%2Fconditions-treatments%2Fwhy-do-we-forget-names%2F&psig=AOvVaw1mLZKtcgwtH-GY5J4xDHWA&ust=1742520783381000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBQQjRxqFwoTCPjk4frBl4wDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAJ. Accessed 19 Mar. 2025.
Hi Shreya! I connected with your blog on a spiritual level— this happens to me all the time. I always feel so bad that I forgot someone’s name right after they told me what it was, but this psychology tidbit eased my guilty conscience. I have faced that specific scenario where they know my name and I do not know theirs a few times over, but more often than that, I have known someone’s name but they seem to not remember my name. It gets slightly annoying if it's someone that I have interacted with several times, and your blog helped me take back a few small grudges and give them some grace when it comes to this. It truly is fascinating that names do not mean much to us though, especially because of riddles such as “what is yours but others use it more than you?” Even though our names are technically others to use, they almost seem to be a form of convenience, an easy way of addressing someone or getting their attention, if they were never all that meaningful in the first place.
ReplyDeleteHi Shreya! For me, I actually don't find it that hard to remember names (unless they're super long or unique ones) but struggle way more with associating a face with that name, so I kind of have the opposite problem from you. However, your research on this phenomenon is still pretty interesting and I have seen it happen in others. For example, someone once called me "Jason" rather than "Jacob," which indicates a problem with remembering names, while someone once called me "Andrew," likely confusing me with another student, which is confusing faces. I'll make sure to put your tips for remembering names to use in future interactions.
ReplyDeleteHey Shreya! While reading your blog I was particularly intrigued because for some reason I realized I am the complete opposite. Interestingly enough, I know a lot of people similar to you who can never seem to recall names despite having a perception of them. Oftentimes, I feel it's pretty easy for me to remember people’s names because I just associate them with situations that I happen to know them from. I don’t particularly know why I find it so easy to remember other’s names, but I guess we can chop it down to it just being a blessing. When I first heard the explanation from your article, I was also perplexed because I never thought of that to be the reason many can’t recall names, but I guess in some sense it makes sense. It also made me realize that in order to counteract it, we can simply start adding meaning to other’s names to make them a little memorable maybe? Regardless, it was interesting reading your blog because of how different our experiences seemed to be.
ReplyDeleteHey, Shreya! I totally relate to your perspective in this blog, as sometimes I have difficulty remembering people's names as well. The interesting thing is that I don't believe that it necessarily has anything to do with the situation in which I met the person, but more the mindset that I was in at the time. For example, if I meet someone for the first time during a busy week, I'm more prone to forgetting their name since my brain is preoccupied with other thoughts. But don't get me wrong, I think that it is extremely important to remember others' names, as it is a sign of respect and proves that you were interested in the interaction. This was a thought-provoking and interesting blog, keep up the amazing work!
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