Our given names influence our lives in all sorts of strange ways, affecting everything from where we choose to live to what we do for a living. That's the takeaway of a fascinating new video from PBS Digital Studios' BrainCraft series.

我们的名字会以千奇百怪的方式影响我们的生活，从我们的住址选择到我们的工作选择等各个方面。这是PBS数码工作室的BrainCraft系列新出的一个视频里的观点。

"We write our names thousands of times throughout our lives," science reporter Vanessa Hill explains in the video. "The more we are merely exposed to something, like those letters, the more we like them."

“我们一生中会数千次写下我们的名字，”科学记者瓦内莎·希尔在视频中解释道，“我们越接触到一些东西，比如名字中的字母，我们就会越喜欢它们。”

It seems we tend to pick cities whose names sound like our own. Phils, for example, often gravitate to Philadelphia. Virginias are overrepresented in Virginia Beach.

我们似乎倾向于选择一些听起来像自己名字的城市。譬如，叫菲尔斯这个名字的人常常会被吸引到费城去。而在弗吉尼亚海滩(Virginia Beach)上到处都有叫弗吉尼亚这个名字的人。

The same works for our occupations, according to the video. The ranks of dentists, for example, include more Dennises and Denises than you might expect.

视频指出，这一现象同样适用于我们的职业。举例说，牙医行业中就有很多叫丹尼斯和丹妮丝的人，多得远超你的想象。

Lauries, Lawrences and Laurens? Those names are especially common among -- you guessed it -- lawyers.

那劳里、劳伦斯和劳伦呢? 这些名字在律师行业中尤其常见，你猜到了吧。

Scientists call this strange phenomenon "implicit egotism." But what explains it? Most people have positive self-associations, and by extension anything associated with the self -- even phonetically -- is seen as positive too.

科学家称这一奇怪的现象为“隐性的自我主义”(implicit egotism)。但是怎么解释呢?大多数人都有积极的自我联想。进一步延伸开来便是，任何与自己相联系的事物，甚至是发音上的联系，也会被看做积极的。

Now you know!

现在你知道了吧!

Vocabulary

gravitate：被吸引

overrepresent：使有过多的代表

egotism：自我中心