What’s in YOUR Name?

Scientists think that the letters in your name–especially the first letter or letters–can influence the way you live your life, including what job you take, the person you marry, and where you live. In 2008, two Belgian researchers found that workers in their country were more likely to choose a workplace if the first letter of its name matched their own.

But not everyone agrees. PhysOrg.com quotes researcher Uri Simonsohn as saying, "Walt Disney worked for a company starting with D not because of an unconscious attraction to that letter. Having young children, I can’t imagine people don’t like their own letter more than other letters, but letter preference is more likely to influence decisions about which you are indifferent or ignorant–say, choosing a wine or even a mutual fund you know nothing about. "Not that it makes no difference–but the differences it makes in really big decisions are probably slim. The first letter of the organization’s name is but one unit of difference. When you’re thinking about where to work or whom to marry, there are thousands of units to consider."

If your name inspires you to move, maybe you should find a place where you can get out of your car and WALK. Living in an area where amenities of daily life–such as groceries, playgrounds, post offices, libraries and restaurants–are within walking distance promotes healthy lifestyles and has positive implications for the environment, research has established. Now, new researchers have linked walkable neighborhoods with an increase in social benefits as well. In her book "What I Learned from the Fat Years," Anne Strieber has a chapter on exercise called "The Tyranny of the Body," in which she tells why walking is the BEST exercise–and why it’s good for our MINDS as well!

What’s in a name? Well, if it’s unknowncountry.com, LOTS, because you can trust unknowncountry.com to tell you the truth (and we correct ourselves if we’re wrong). If you want this kind of reporting to be there the next time you fire up your computer, be sure to subscribe today–and come introrduce yourself to us (tell us your name) in Beautiful, WALKABLE, Nashville this June!