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Whatever the chosen name, we already know the new royal baby will be called "His/Her Royal Highness Prince/Princess (name) of Cambridge"/FILE

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What’s in a name? More than you think, experts say

Much of the evidence is anecdotal, and there are many people who succeed despite potentially problematic names -take Barack Hussein Obama who joked in 2008: “I got my middle name from somebody who obviously didn’t think I’d ever run for president.”

Others dealt a wildcard include celebrity children Apple, Jermajesty, Moon Unit and Dweezil. And spare a thought for Stan Still, Justin Case and Barb Dwyer. No kidding.

“Names make impressions, just as the way you clothe your (child) or the way you groom them makes an impression,” insisted University of California emeritus psychology professor Albert Mehrabian, who authored a book on “Beneficial and Harmful Baby Names”.

“People with ‘undesirable’ names do get treated differently,” he said – people give the same photograph a different score for attractiveness based only on the name, and the same exam paper with different signatures will be given two different marks.

“I attribute this to low teacher and societal expectations for the children,” said Figlio.

Mehrabian, who conducted a more than 10-year survey in the United States on the “attractiveness” of names, lists Elizabeth, Jacqueline, Holly, Ann and Mary as the top five names for girls and James, Steven, Christopher, Kenneth and Thomas for boys.
At the bottom of the list were Elvira, Eula, Shar, Zoila and Latrina for girls and Butch, Rufus, Ozzie, Jock and Rip for boys.

Mehrabian has advice for all new parents: “Never spell a name in an unconventional way… the desirability profile drops drastically.”
“Don’t try to be clever or artistic,” he added. “Overall I would say avoid unusual names.”

Whatever the chosen name, we already know the new royal baby will be called “His/Her Royal Highness Prince/Princess (name) of Cambridge”.

“A royal prince or princess is immediately going to have a social identity that is quite distinct from his or her name,” said Figlio.

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“I would be stunned if names matter all that much for the children of the extremely famous.”

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