By Chad Brooks | LiveScience.com
Parents wanting to give their children a leg up in the workforce can start early by giving them a simple name like Michael, Tom, Jane or Mary, new research suggests.
A study by professors at the University of Melbourne and New York University revealed that people with simple, easy-to-pronounce names were more likely to be favored for a promotion at work.
"The effect is not due merely to the length of a name or how foreign-sounding or unusual it is, but rather how easy it is to pronounce," said Simon Laham, the study's lead author from the University of Melbourne
In the first study of its kind, researchers analyzed how the pronunciation of names can influence impression formation and decision-making.
The findings were especially strong among lawyers, with attorneys with more pronounceable names rising more quickly to superior positions in their firm hierarchies.
New York University's Adam Alter, who conducted the law firm analysis,
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