HOW attractive are you? The answer could depend partly on your name.
Linguist Amy Perfors of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology placed photos that included prominent names on the 鈥淗ot or Not?鈥� website, which allows viewers to rank strangers鈥� photos. Each photo was posted at different times with different names. She found that men labelled with names including 鈥渇ront vowels鈥� 鈥� sounds produced in the front of the mouth such as the 鈥渁aa鈥� in Matt 鈥� were rated as more attractive than photos labelled with 鈥渂ack vowel鈥� names, such as the 鈥渁w鈥� sound in Paul. The opposite was true for women, she told the Cognitive Science Society meeting in Chicago last week.
While most linguists think there is no inherent relationship between the sound of a word and its meaning, there is some evidence to the contrary, says Perfors. Front vowels are often perceived as 鈥渟maller鈥� than back vowels. It may seem counterintuitive that men with a smaller-sounding, front vowel in their names are rated as more attractive, but other studies show that men with slightly feminine features are considered more desirable. 鈥淢aybe women are subconsciously looking for more sensitive or gentle men,鈥� says Perfors. But if you鈥檙e thinking of changing your name, don鈥檛 go too far 鈥� men with women鈥檚 names were rated least attractive of all.
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