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What is in a name? UK poll attempts to find out

People called James or Elizabeth are perceived as likely to be the most successful, while Ryan and Sophie are seen as the most attractive, a British poll showed on Tuesday.

Jack and Lucy are seen as the luckiest, the poll found, based on asking more than 6,000 people for their perceptions of different names and the kind of people likely to have them.

At the other end of the scale, Lisa and Brian were seen as the least successful, Helen and John as the least lucky, and Ann and George as the most unattractive, the poll commissioned by a British academic found.

PROPHECIES

"Past research has shown that such perceptions can become self-fulfilling prophecies, with teachers giving higher marks to children with attractive names and employers being more likely to promote those who sound successful," said the authors of the poll.

PERCEPTION

As well as mainstream names, psychologist Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire also found that unusual names people give their children could also have a big influence on how they are perceived.

"Attractive female names tended to be soft-sounding and end with the `ee' sound, whereas the sexiest male names are short and much harder sounding," he said, adding that names with royal links are seen as successful or clever.

Here are key findings from the poll, based on asking nearly 6,700 people to rank 20 male and 20 female names in terms of successfulness, intelligence and luck.
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