How to Remember People’s Names

LOVE these other tips!! these are great. and bethany, haha, that made me laugh out loud. i’m going to remember that!

I always end up having to ask a mutual friend for someone’s name that I should (but usually don’t) remember. I’m great with faces, but the names never come as quickly as they should (like days later). This trick is easy, I’m interested to see if it works for me!

Thanks for sharing
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Ooh I have one I saw on the Katie show! When you hear their name, immediately make a connection (someone else with that name, a celebrity, etc.) and mentally place said connection on that person’s most prominent feature (pretty eyes, hair, lips etc.) It sounds so bizarre but it’s worked so well for me! I used to be terrible at remembering names, but now I feel like a pro! :)

I repeat their name 3 times within the first 15 mins of conversation. That works for me :)

I tend to be pretty good at names when I don’t have to introduce myself, but if I know I am expected to produce my name after the other person I get distracted trying to remember that I need to introduce myself and then I lose track of their name. What helps me is to repeat it out loud but in my head add something like “eyebrows Emily” –an alliteration tying some distinctive feature with their name.

Nice trick! Will remember it the next time I meet someone new.. and hope that it will work!

Seriously. The second after I hear a name come out of someone’s mouth it’s gone. What. Is. That.

Maybe this tip will help!
The Shaded Acorn

Nope! No tip! I just forget people’s names..I know, pathetic! So the only thing I do is I admit that I forget names and always say mine first, hoping that other forget names too!

I’ll have to remember this, it might help me!

Nice tip! For names that are a bit more complicated like mine (Mirela) I usually ask them to spell it out for me. Once I have the visual of the name, I ask them once again how to say it. And that’s helpful!

I use Christie’s trick. Reach out hand, Person says, “Hi, I’m Person” and I say, “Person, nice to meet you”. Repetition :)

Love this thread. I have a problem remembering names and do the same standard things — try to repeat it once or twice right away, even if it feels nerdy. If I don’t, I almost always forget.
Then I also create sometimes a mnemonic that is personally associative. It might be — he is David, just like my dad is David. Or for unusual names, perhaps a rhyme: Kellyn rhymes with Helen. Or Chantele is a belle. My husband has a Dutch name which few people can pronounce or remember: Kees, which is pronounced as “Case.” I often try to help people remember it by saying that Case, rhyming with “suitcase.” But my husband, in an attempt to be funny and self-deprecating, confuses people by saying “Case like a mental case.” Then people are nervous because they are not sure about the joke. And then if they mangle it into Casey, Chase, and Keith. So I don’t know why telling them that “rhymes with suitcase” doesn’t help them. They just want to make it into an English name.

Lol who would you visualise with my name! Chantele? Sadly not all that common, hehe! I’m usually pretty good, after working with kids groups you needed to pick up names pretty quick!
Two Hearts One Roof

I don’t do well at remembering names. I remember faces, and can put the name to the face if I have it written down. So at first opportunity I put it in a note in my cellphone, with their kids and significant others names too. Then next time I meet them I can quickly check if I can’t recall their name.

Write it down!!!

I repeat it back to the person the. The first chance I get I write it down and a little something we talked about or what they look like- it works every time (don’t write it down in front of the person – it freaks then out)

Yes, this method is great! I had a friend who was a congressional lobbyist and needed to be able to identify the 500+ reps by name (to say nothing of the other folks he encountered) and he used this exact method.

In everything I’ve read about memory, it seems like the key is to connect new info to old info that is already in your brain.

This sounds like a very handy trick. I think some of the problem is that it also goes very fast when someone tells you their name. It’s paying attention really well. If you miss half of it you will never remember…

Not actually too helpful–but a funny clip from The Office on this subject: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQfW1G6Me5E. ;)

Oh yeah, that is a great way. I generally don’t remember names because I don’t pay attention when someone tells me their name. So now that I know that about myself I have made a point to look that person in the eye, and say, ‘So good to meet you (insert name)’ and I almost always remember.

Thanks for the tip Bethany ^ !!! I just barely found out my neighbors name after a year. I’ll have to try that next time.

I always repeat the name back to the person. Instead of just “nice to meet you”, I say “nice to meet you, Jack”.

I also heard what (I hope) was a joke – When you’ve gone long past that point where you can still admit to not catching their name, you ask point blank what their name is – when they respond with their first name (and a quizzical look), you say “Oh no! I meant your last name”. Seems clever, but I don’t think I’d be brave enough to try :).

The usual trick, I believe, is to repeat their name back to them as soon as they’ve told you. I find I almost always have to ask them to repeat their name, but the other person usually ends up asking me to repeat my name too.

What’s really awkward is when you get past the point of it being acceptable to ask their name. There are a few Mums at my daughter’s school and we always do the polite chat/wave hello, and it’s gone way past that window of opportunity where I can say ‘Actually, I didn’t catch your name’.