How do people look like their names, is it a coincidence?

The Manifestation of Name Stereotypes in Facial Appearance

We are told not to judge a book by its cover, but we all do. Facial appearance matters when we judge people: It affects how a person is perceived and judged by others regarding critical characteristics such as intelligence, trustworthiness, attractiveness, warmth, dominance, and so forth. 

A name has a social meaning and can impart significant and differentiated impressions, both positive and negative. Individuals attribute characteristics to people based on their given name, and this name can lead to social consequences. 

Based on a 2017 study of name stereotypes done by The Hebrew University of Jerusalem students

People tend to make associations between certain names and faces. For example, out of the picture below who do you think Tim is, and who do you think Bob is?

If you assume Tim is the one on the left, and Bob is the one on the right. You’re in the majority according to the 2016 study.

But how can someone like Bob just happen to grow up and look like a Bob?

One obvious factor is culture. Someone who looks Japanese, for example, is more likely to have a Japanese name, because they’re actually Japanese.

Another factor is that people genuinely live up to the expectations surrounding their name, in some capacity.

The name ‘Bob’ does come with some cultural expectations of what a ‘Bob’ should look like. If ‘Bob’ doesn’t like that, he could always go by ‘Bobby’ or middle name. But, if he enjoys being a ‘Bob’, he could play the part by doing things like having a ‘Bob’ body that fits his identity as a ‘Bob’.

And this might have huge impacts on social implications, for studies show that having more unique sounding names are associated with greater success in creative professions, because people are more likely to think those names are creative. 

And, unfortunately, ‘whiter’ names are more likely to get callbacks on resumes with the exact same qualifications.