MYSTERIOUS: Incorrect name spelled wrong - What They Never Told You

It's funny to laugh at and mock these names, but let's think for a moment: some kids have to live with these names. Granted, you can always legally change your name; it's not that big of a deal. However, the scientific evidence behind how different lives are for people with unusual names is quite fascinating.

A research paper from 1966 analyzed the impact of unusual names on children. The study found that children with less popular names were less popular themselves in grade school.

Many subsequent studies investigated the racial aspect of this. And, surprise, surprise, they found that children with Black-sounding or Asian-sounding names said teachers and students treated them differently.

There is also research about how people with uncommon names have more difficulty finding a romantic partner. One study found that "unattractive" and unpopular names can lead to rejection. That, in turn, leads people with unfortunate names to have lower self-esteem, less education, and be more frequent smokers.

In 2004, Marianne Bertrand and Sendhil Mullainathan conducted research to find out whether some names are more employable than others. The factor that they concentrated on was race.

They sent out resumes with "White-sounding names" and "Black-sounding names." Perhaps there's little surprise (again) that the Emilys and Gregs got more interest from potential employers than Lakeishas and Jamals.

Swedish researchers found a similar bias with immigrant names. Those who changed their names from Slavic, Asian, or African names apparently earned 26% more than those who kept their names. 

Another interesting study comes from Germany. These researchers found that people with names that sound regal and fancy, like Kaiser, König, or Fürst (emperor, king, and prince, respectively), are more likely to be in managing positions than people with mundane names like Koch, Bauer, or Becker (cook, farmer, baker).

The phenomenon of why we like some names more than others is the 'implicit-egotism effect.' It's the tendency for people to "gravitate toward people, places, and things that resemble the self." Some studies even suggest that we act more altruistically to people who have similar names to ours!

Psychologist Uri Simonsohn, however, has debunked this theory. He said that just because there are many doctors named Dan doesn't mean that the name automatically guarantees that a child will become a doctor. It might simply mean that there are many doctors named Dan because Dan is a very popular and common name.

Those of us with unusual names know what it's like to be an outcast in the playground. I include myself in this group because I can't count the times people called me 'Caroline,' 'Catherine,' or 'Victoria' (that one's interesting; it doesn't really sound like my name at all) – anything but.

When I was learning Arabic (quite unsuccessfully, I might add) during my Bachelor's years, we had to find out the meaning of our names so that we'd know the equivalent in Arabic. I remember finding something about a Cornelian cherry, but now that I look it up, it says the meaning behind the name is 'horn.' Whether that's better or worse, I'll leave it up to you to decide.

For future reference, fellow Pandas, the English version of 'Kornelija' would be 'Cornelia.' It's that pesky Eastern European soft /j/ that always confuses people. I hated my name when I was young precisely for the reason that it was different; it did, in fact, single me out when socializing with other kids. 

And I was angry at my mother: why couldn't she just give me a nice, short, common name? The only person with a similar name I knew growing up was Cornelius Fudge from Harry Potter. However, all of us three siblings have four-syllable names, so I just learned to embrace it over time.

I've also never had a Starbucks barista write my name correctly on the cup. The most memorable ones include 'Ornelia,' 'Cornila,' and 'Ornealia.' But that's probably a common issue, wouldn't you say? There's even a website "What's My Starbucks Name?" where you can enter your name, and it predicts the way a barista might spell it in a real Starbucks.