Almost universally, our minds link sounds with certain shapes or visuals. The sound of B, M, L and O being associated with round shapes and the sound of K, T, P and I giving a picture of a spiky, thin shape.
People tend to perceive names as round or spiky and imagine these personalities on people they haven’t met or seen. Example: Names like Bob or Molly are perceived as round.
This unconscious association is known as the Bouba-Kiki Effect.

The Shape Of The Name

Names like Molly tend to sound agreeable and empathic, whereas names like Kate sound harsh and spiky, while also being perceived as someone who is an extrovert. Toddlers instinctively associate ‘round’ sounds with round shapes.
We see patterns and connections based on the sounds we hear and how they make us feel. Example: The smooth sound of an ‘m’ contrasts with the jarring sound of a ‘t’ and subtly alters our perception of the subject.

How Sounds Feel In Our Mouth

When we hear a name, our belief patterns, assumptions, biases and prejudices provide us with cues that can affect our judgement, and may or may not be factually correct.
This even leads to gender bias, as female names tend to have softer, timid sounds, indicating smallness.
Various studies prove that the unconscious judgments based on the name sound have no consistency when factually checked, and only exist in our minds.

Our Reaction To A Name

The word prickly is as spiky as it sounds, and such associations can help when learning languages (Credit: Javier Hirschfeld/Getty Images)When it comes to people's personalities, however, sound is not a reliable guide at all. Sidhu, Pexman and their collaborators tested whether there was a link between a person's name and their personality, perhaps because the round or spiky sound of the name rubbed off on the wearer. They found <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2019-43758-001.html" dir="ltr">no such association</a>."People agonise over baby names. It's this expectation that the label matters so much," Pexman says. "Our data would suggest that although that's what we think, if you call the kid Bob, they're not any more likely to end up with one set of personality traits than another."Instead, our reaction to a name probably reveals more about our own prejudices. "It does suggest that we're prepared to read a lot into somebody's name that probably isn't a cue to what that person is actually like," says Pexman.Preliminary results from an ongoing study by Sidhu, Pexman and collaborators suggest that the sound of a name has less of an impact as we find out more about people. When participants were shown videos of people with supposedly round or spiky names, the names made no difference to their judgment of them.<BLOCKQUOTE><h2>Certain sounds have been found to evoke consistent associations not just with shapes and sizes, but even with flavours and textures</h2></BLOCKQUOTE>"When all you have to go on is the name, like in these studies when you're just shown a name and asked about the personality, then maybe these sounds will play a role," Sidhu says. "But as you start getting more information about the person, then that actual information about the personality is probably going to override these biases."The research feeds into a growing body of evidence that challenges a long-held view in linguistics: that sounds are arbitrary, and have no inherent meaning. Instead, certain sounds have been found to evoke consistent associations not just with shapes and sizes, but even with flavours and textures.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.psy.ox.ac.uk/publications/164228" dir="ltr">Milk chocolate</a>, brie cheese and still water tend to be perceived as bouba/maluma, while crisps, bitter chocolate, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17588928.2010.516820" dir="ltr">mint chocolate</a> and sparkling water are more likely to be experienced as kiki/takete.According to Suzy Styles, a psycholinguist at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, such sensory associations also reflect our wider physical environment. Sounds like b, m, and oo contain lower frequency components, while sounds like k, t, and i contain higher frequency components. Higher frequencies are in turn associated with brightness, smallness and sharpness, not just in human language.&nbsp;"You could think of a large drum that makes a lower, louder, longer-lasting sound, versus a tiny little toy drum that makes a smaller, high-pitched, shorter-lasting sound. Those are just physical properties of our environment," Styles says. "So it makes sense that a brain that grows up in this environment will coordinate information in those ways."<picture><source media="(min-width:1200px)" srcset="https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/1600x900/p09g9wbq.webp" type="image/webp"><source media="(min-width:1200px)" srcset="https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/1600x900/p09g9wbq.jpg" type="image/jpeg"><source media="(min-width:880px)" srcset="https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/1280x720/p09g9wbq.webp" type="image/webp"><source media="(min-width:880px)" srcset="https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/1280x720/p09g9wbq.jpg" type="image/jpeg"><source media="(min-width:576px)" srcset="https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/976x549/p09g9wbq.webp" type="image/webp"><source media="(min-width:576px)" srcset="https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/976x549/p09g9wbq.jpg" type="image/jpeg"><source media="(min-width:224px)" srcset="https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/624x351/p09g9wbq.webp" type="image/webp"><source media="(min-width:224px)" srcset="https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/624x351/p09g9wbq.jpg" type="image/jpeg"><img title="Rounder, smoother-sounding names like Molly tend to be associated with being agreeable (Credit: Javier Hirschfeld/Getty Images)" src="https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/976x549/p09g9wbq.jpg" alt="Rounder, smoother-sounding names like Molly tend to be associated with being agreeable (Credit: Javier Hirschfeld/Getty Images)" width="687" height="386"></picture>Rounder, smoother-sounding names like Molly tend to be associated with being agreeable (Credit: Javier Hirschfeld/Getty Images)As widespread as the bouba-kiki effect is, it can be changed or offset by different factors, such as our own native sound repertoire.Styles and her PhD student Nan Shang <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02139/full" dir="ltr">tested the bouba-kiki effect with Mandarin Chinese</a>. Mandarin is a tonal language, where the meaning of a word can completely change depending on the tone in which it is said. In English, tone can carry some meaning, for example by signalling a question, but not to the extent it does in Mandarin. The researchers presented English- and Mandarin-speakers with two Mandarin Chinese tones, one high and one falling. The English-speaking participants in the experiment perceived the high tone as spiky, and the falling one as rounded. But Mandarin speakers drew the opposite conclusion, picturing the high tone as rounded, and the falling tone as spiky.One possible explanation is that if we are unfamiliar with tones in a language, as English-speakers are, then we may mainly hear them as high or low, and form associations based on pitch. But if we are familiar with tones, as Chinese speakers are, we may be able to distinguish finer nuances. In the experiment, the Mandarin speakers heard the high tone as smooth, drawn-out and steady, and therefore, rounded. The falling tone was experienced as abrupt, because it dropped suddenly, making it spiky.Other studies also found variations in the bouba-kiki pattern. The Himba, a remote community in Northern Namibia who speak the Otjiherero language, judged bouba to be round and kiki to be angular, in line with the general trend. But they found <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23121711/" dir="ltr">milk chocolate to be spiky-tasting</a>, suggesting that our sensory associations are not universal.<BLOCKQUOTE><h2>In English, the sounds k and oo are perceived as inherently humorous</h2></BLOCKQUOTE>When Styles and the linguist Lauren Gawne tested the bouba-kiki effect on speakers of Syuba, a language in the Himalayas in Nepal, they <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2041669517724807" dir="ltr">found no consistent response</a> either way. The Syuba speakers seemed confused by the made-up words, possibly because they did not sound like any actual Syuba words. This made it hard to form any meaningful associations. An analogy would be to play an English speaker the made-up word "ngf", and ask if it is round or spiky. It would probably be difficult to make a meaningful choice."When we hear words that don't align with the word-pattern of our native language, it's often hard to do things with that word," Styles says. "We can't hold it in our short-term memory long enough to make decisions about it."Cultural factors are also likely to affect our reactions to the sound of personal names. In English, the sounds k and oo are perceived as <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/11/181127131537.htm" dir="ltr">inherently humorous</a>. English <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3673912/" dir="ltr">female names are more likely to contain sounds that are perceived as small</a>, such as the i-sound in Emily, and also feature more <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2016-06825-001" dir="ltr">soft</a> sounds than male names. But in other languages, names can follow a completely different sound pattern.Sidhu hasn't yet tested the name-personality association across different languages, but expects that it would vary. "Your sounds in the language you speak might affect it; which sounds are more common in names might affect it; even cultural things like ideas about personality and which traits are positive versus negative, I can imagine that also playing a role."<picture><source media="(min-width:1200px)" srcset="https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/1600x900/p09gb2m0.webp" type="image/webp"><source media="(min-width:1200px)" srcset="https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/1600x900/p09gb2m0.jpg" type="image/jpeg"><source media="(min-width:880px)" srcset="https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/1280x720/p09gb2m0.webp" type="image/webp"><source media="(min-width:880px)" srcset="https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/1280x720/p09gb2m0.jpg" type="image/jpeg"><source media="(min-width:576px)" srcset="https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/976x549/p09gb2m0.webp" type="image/webp"><source media="(min-width:576px)" srcset="https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/976x549/p09gb2m0.jpg" type="image/jpeg"><source media="(min-width:224px)" srcset="https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/624x351/p09gb2m0.webp" type="image/webp"><source media="(min-width:224px)" srcset="https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/624x351/p09gb2m0.jpg" type="image/jpeg"><img title="The way a word feels in your mouth as you say it can trigger some surprising psychological reactions (Credit: Javier Hirschfeld/Getty Images)" src="https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/976x549/p09gb2m0.jpg" alt="The way a word feels in your mouth as you say it can trigger some surprising psychological reactions (Credit: Javier Hirschfeld/Getty Images)" width="687" height="386"></picture>The way a word feels in your mouth as you say it can trigger some surprising psychological reactions (Credit: Javier Hirschfeld/Getty Images)Uncovering these hidden associations holds one important real-life lesson: we probably read too much into other people's names.After all, Sidhu and Pexman found no evidence that Bobs are actually friendlier, or Kirks more extroverted. Their findings may lend weight calls to remove names from important processes altogether, and anonymise CVs or scientific papers under review, to counter unconscious bias. Sidhu supports the idea."I think that makes a lot of sense," he says. "Whenever someone is being judged, taking away all of these extra things that could bias the judgment is always a good idea."--Join one million Future fans by liking us on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/BBCFuture/" dir="ltr">Facebook</a>, or follow us on&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/BBC_Future" dir="ltr">Twitter</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/bbcfuture_official/" dir="ltr">Instagram</a>.If you liked this story,&nbsp;<a href="http://pages.emails.bbc.com/subscribe/?ocid=fut.bbc.email.we.email-signup" dir="ltr">sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter</a>, called "The Essential List". A handpicked selection of stories from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/" dir="ltr">BBC Future</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/culture/" dir="ltr">Culture</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/" dir="ltr">Worklife</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/travel/" dir="ltr">Travel</a>, delivered to your inbox every Friday.

The way your name or a word rolls off the tongue can have some surprising effects on the judgements we make.

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The word prickly is as spiky as it sounds, and such associations can help when learning languages (Credit: Javier Hirschfeld/Getty Images)

When it comes to people's personalities, however, sound is not a reliable guide at all. Sidhu, Pexman and their collaborators tested whether there was a link between a person's name and their personality, perhaps because the round or spiky sound of the name rubbed off on the wearer. They found <a dir="ltr" href="https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2019-43758-001.html">no such association </a>.

"People agonise over baby names. It's this expectation that the label matters so much," Pexman says. "Our data would suggest that although that's what we think, if you call the kid Bob, they're not any more likely to end up with one set of personality traits than another."

Instead, our reaction to a name probably reveals more about our own prejudices. "It does suggest that we're prepared to read a lot into somebody's name that probably isn't a cue to what that person is actually like," says Pexman.

Preliminary results from an ongoing study by Sidhu, Pexman and collaborators suggest that the sound of a name has less of an impact as we find out more about people. When participants were shown videos of people with supposedly round or spiky names, the names made no difference to their judgment of them.

Certain sounds have been found to evoke consistent associations not just with shapes and sizes, but even with flavours and textures

"When all you have to go on is the name, like in these studies when you're just shown a name and asked about the personality, then maybe these sounds will play a role," Sidhu says. "But as you start getting more information about the person, then that actual information about the personality is probably going to override these biases."

The research feeds into a growing body of evidence that challenges a long-held view in linguistics: that sounds are arbitrary, and have no inherent meaning. Instead, certain sounds have been found to evoke consistent associations not just with shapes and sizes, but even with flavours and textures.

<a dir="ltr" href="https://www.psy.ox.ac.uk/publications/164228">Milk chocolate </a>, brie cheese and still water tend to be perceived as bouba/maluma, while crisps, bitter chocolate, <a dir="ltr" href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17588928.2010.516820">mint chocolate </a>and sparkling water are more likely to be experienced as kiki/takete.

According to Suzy Styles, a psycholinguist at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, such sensory associations also reflect our wider physical environment. Sounds like b, m, and oo contain lower frequency components, while sounds like k, t, and i contain higher frequency components. Higher frequencies are in turn associated with brightness, smallness and sharpness, not just in human language.

"You could think of a large drum that makes a lower, louder, longer-lasting sound, versus a tiny little toy drum that makes a smaller, high-pitched, shorter-lasting sound. Those are just physical properties of our environment," Styles says. "So it makes sense that a brain that grows up in this environment will coordinate information in those ways."

Rounder, smoother-sounding names like Molly tend to be associated with being agreeable (Credit: Javier Hirschfeld/Getty Images)

As widespread as the bouba-kiki effect is, it can be changed or offset by different factors, such as our own native sound repertoire.

Styles and her PhD student Nan Shang <a dir="ltr" href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02139/full">tested the bouba-kiki effect with Mandarin Chinese </a>. Mandarin is a tonal language, where the meaning of a word can completely change depending on the tone in which it is said. In English, tone can carry some meaning, for example by signalling a question, but not to the extent it does in Mandarin. The researchers presented English- and Mandarin-speakers with two Mandarin Chinese tones, one high and one falling. The English-speaking participants in the experiment perceived the high tone as spiky, and the falling one as rounded. But Mandarin speakers drew the opposite conclusion, picturing the high tone as rounded, and the falling tone as spiky.

One possible explanation is that if we are unfamiliar with tones in a language, as English-speakers are, then we may mainly hear them as high or low, and form associations based on pitch. But if we are familiar with tones, as Chinese speakers are, we may be able to distinguish finer nuances. In the experiment, the Mandarin speakers heard the high tone as smooth, drawn-out and steady, and therefore, rounded. The falling tone was experienced as abrupt, because it dropped suddenly, making it spiky.

Other studies also found variations in the bouba-kiki pattern. The Himba, a remote community in Northern Namibia who speak the Otjiherero language, judged bouba to be round and kiki to be angular, in line with the general trend. But they found <a dir="ltr" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23121711/">milk chocolate to be spiky-tasting </a>, suggesting that our sensory associations are not universal.

In English, the sounds k and oo are perceived as inherently humorous

When Styles and the linguist Lauren Gawne tested the bouba-kiki effect on speakers of Syuba, a language in the Himalayas in Nepal, they <a dir="ltr" href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2041669517724807">found no consistent response </a>either way. The Syuba speakers seemed confused by the made-up words, possibly because they did not sound like any actual Syuba words. This made it hard to form any meaningful associations. An analogy would be to play an English speaker the made-up word "ngf", and ask if it is round or spiky. It would probably be difficult to make a meaningful choice.

"When we hear words that don't align with the word-pattern of our native language, it's often hard to do things with that word," Styles says. "We can't hold it in our short-term memory long enough to make decisions about it."

Cultural factors are also likely to affect our reactions to the sound of personal names. In English, the sounds k and oo are perceived as <a dir="ltr" href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/11/181127131537.htm">inherently humorous </a>. English <a dir="ltr" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3673912/">female names are more likely to contain sounds that are perceived as small </a>, such as the i-sound in Emily, and also feature more <a dir="ltr" href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2016-06825-001">soft </a>sounds than male names. But in other languages, names can follow a completely different sound pattern.

Sidhu hasn't yet tested the name-personality association across different languages, but expects that it would vary. "Your sounds in the language you speak might affect it; which sounds are more common in names might affect it; even cultural things like ideas about personality and which traits are positive versus negative, I can imagine that also playing a role."

The way a word feels in your mouth as you say it can trigger some surprising psychological reactions (Credit: Javier Hirschfeld/Getty Images)

Uncovering these hidden associations holds one important real-life lesson: we probably read too much into other people's names.

After all, Sidhu and Pexman found no evidence that Bobs are actually friendlier, or Kirks more extroverted. Their findings may lend weight calls to remove names from important processes altogether, and anonymise CVs or scientific papers under review, to counter unconscious bias. Sidhu supports the idea.

"I think that makes a lot of sense," he says. "Whenever someone is being judged, taking away all of these extra things that could bias the judgment is always a good idea."

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What the sound of your name says about you

The Shape Of The Name

How Sounds Feel In Our Mouth

Our Reaction To A Name

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