How to remember names. The phase of memory connected with the remembrance or recollection
of names probably is of greater interest to the majority of persons than are any
of the associated phases of the subject. On all hands are to be found
people who are embarrassed by their failure to recall the name of someone whom they
feel they know, but whose name has escaped them. This failure to remember
the names of persons undoubtedly interferes with the business and professional success of many persons,
and on the other hand, the ability to recall names readily has aided
many persons in the struggle for success. It would seem that there are a
greater number of persons deficient in this phase of memory than in any other.
As Holbrook has said, the memory of names is a subject with which most
persons must have a more than passing interest. The umber of persons who never
or rarely forget a name is exceedingly small. The number of those who have
a poor memory for them is very large. The reason for this is partly
a defect of mental development and partly a matter of habit. In either case,
it may be overcome by effort. I have satisfied myself by experience and
observation that a memory for names may be increased not only two, but a
hundredfold. You will find that the majority of successful men have been able to
recall the faces and names of those with whom they came in contact, and
it is an interesting subject for speculation as to just how much of their success
was due to this faculty. Socrates is said to have easily remembered the names
of all of his students, and his classes numbered thousands in the course of
a year. Xenophon is said to have known the name of every one of
his soldiers, which faculty was shared by Washington and Napoleon. Also, Trajan
is said to have known the names of all of the praetorian guards, numbering
about twelve thousand. Pericles knew the face and name of every one of the
citizens of Athens. Sineus is said to have known the names of all of
the citizens of Rome. Themistocles knew the names of twenty thousand Athenians. Lucius
Scipio could call by name every citizen of Rome. John Wesley could recall the
names of thousands of persons whom he had met in his travels. Henry Clay
was specially developed in this phase of memory, and there was a tradition among
his followers that he remembered every one whom he met. Blaine had a similar
reputation. There have been many theories advanced and explanations offered to account for the
fact that the recollection of names is far more difficult than any other form of
the activities of the memory. We shall not take up your time in going
over these theories, but shall proceed upon the theory now generally accepted by the
best authorities, that is that the difficulty in the recollection of names is caused
by the fact that names in themselves are uninteresting, and therefore do not attract
or hold the attention as do other objects presented to the mind. There is,
of course, to be remembered the fact that sound impressions are apt to
be more difficult of recollection than site impressions, but the lack of interesting qualities
and names is believed to be the principal obstacle and difficulty. Fuller says of
this matter, a proper noun or name, when considered independently of accidental features
of coincidence with something that is familiar, doesn't mean anything. For this reason,
a mental picture of it is not easily formed, which accounts for the
fact that the primitive tedious way of rote or repetition is that ordinarily employed to
impress a proper noun on the memory. While a common noun being represented by
some object having shape or appearance in the physical or mental perception, can thus
be seen or imagined. In other words, a mental image of it can
be formed and the name identified afterwards through associating it with this mental image.
We think that the case is fully stated in this quotation. But in spite
of this difficulty, persons have and can greatly improve their memory of names.
Many who were originally very deficient in this respect have not only improved the faculty
far beyond its former condition, but have also developed exceptional ability in this special
phase of memory, so that they became noted for their unfailing recollection of the
names of those with whom they came in contact. Perhaps the best way to
impress upon you the various methods that may be used for this purpose would be
to relate to you the actual experience of a gentleman employed in a bank in
one of the large cities of this country, who made a close study of
the subject and developed himself far beyond the ordinary, starting with a remarkably poor
memory for names. He is now known to his associates as the man who
never forgets a name. This gentleman first took a number of courses in secret
methods of developing the memory, but after thus spending much money, he expressed
his disgust with the whole idea of artificial memory training. He then started in
to study the subject from the point of view of the new psychology, putting
into effect all of the tested principles and improving upon some of their details.
We have had a number of conversations with this gentleman and have found that his
experience confirms many of our own ideas and theories, and the fact that he
has demonstrated the correctness of the principles to such a remarkable degree renders his case
one worthy of being stated in the direction of affording a guide and method for
others who wish to develop their memory of names. The gentleman, who we
shall call mister X, decided that the first thing for him to do was
to develop his faculty of receiving clear and distinct sound impressions. In doing this,
he followed the plan outlined by us in our chapter on training the ear.
He persevered and practiced along these lines until his hearing became very acute.
He made a study of voices until he could classify them and analyze their characteristics.
Then he found that he could hear names in a manner before impossible to
him. That is, instead of merely catching a vague sound of a name,
he would hear it so clearly and distinctly that a firm registration would be
obtained on the records of his memory. For the first time in his life,
names began to mean something to him. He paid attention to every name
he heard, just as he did to every note he handled. He would
repeat a name to himself after hearing it, and would thus strengthen the impression.
If he came across an unusual name, he would write it down several
times at the first opportunity, thus obtaining the benefit of a double sense impression,
adding eye impression or ear impression. All this, of course, aroused
his interest in the subject of names in general, which led him to the
next step in his progress. Mister X then began to study names, their
origin, their peculiarities, their differences, points of resemblances, etc. He
made a hobby of names and evinced all the joy of a collector when he
was able to stick the pins of attention through the specimen of a new and
unfamiliar species of name. He began to collect names just as others collect beetles,
stamps, coins, etc. And took quite a pride in his collection
and in his knowledge of the subject. He read books on names from the
libraries, giving their origin et c. He had the dickens delight in queer
names, and would amuse his friends by relating the funny names he had seen
on signs and otherwise. He took a small city directory home with him and
would run over the pages in the evening, looking up new names and classifying
old ones into groups. He found that some names were derived from animals,
and put these into a class by themselves, the lions, wolves, foxes,
lambs, hares, etc. Others were put into color group blacks,
greens, whites, grays, blues, etc. Others belonged to the bird
family crows, hawks, birds, drakes, cranes, doves, jays,
etc. Others belonged to trades, millers, smiths, hoopers, malsters,
carpenters, bakers, painters, etc. Others were trees, chestnuts, oakleys,
walnuts, cherries, pines, etc. Then there were hills and dales,
fields and mountains, lanes and brooks. Some were strong, others were
gay, others were savage, others noble, and so on. It would
take a whole book to tell you what the man found out about names.
He came near becoming a crank on the subject, but his hobby began to
manifest excellent results, for his interest had been awakened to an unusual degree,
and he was becoming very proficient in his recollection of names, for they now
meant something to him. He easily recalled all the regular customers at his bank,
quite a number, by the way, for the bank was a large
one, and many occasional depositors were delighted to have themselves called by name by
our friend. Occasionally he would meet with a name that balked him, in
which case he would repeat it over to himself and write it a number of
times until he had mastered it. After that it never escaped him. Mister
X would always repeat a name when it was spoken, and would at the
same time look intently at the person bearing it, thus seeming to fix the
two together. In his mind at the same time, when he wanted them,
they would be found in each other's company. He also acquired the habit
of visualizing the name, that is, he would see its letters in his
mind's eye as a picture. This he regarded as a most important point,
and we thoroughly agree with him. He used the law of association in the
direction of associating a new man with a well remembered man of the same name.
A new mister Schmitzenburger would be associated with an old customer of the same
name. When he would see the new man, he would think of the
old one, and the name would flash into his mind. To sum up
the whole method, however, it may be said that the gist of the
thing was in taking an interest in names in general. In this way,
an uninteresting subject was made interesting, and a man always has a good memory
for the things in which he is interested. The case of mister X is
an extreme one, and the results obtained were beyond the ordinary. But if
you will take a leaf from his book, you may obtain the same results
in the degree that you work for it. Make a study of names,
start a collection, and you will have no trouble in developing a memory for
them. This is the whole thing, in a nutshell,