vowels control your brain

this is one of the more interesting articles i've read in a long time. read it, i urge you. i think it is of particular interest to writers, the sound theory.

when i was thinking of baby names, i thought somewhere along these lines. one of my old favorite names, Isla, compared to my daughter's name, Susan, did not seem as steady, dependable and intelligent to me. I think that is partially that "Isla" begins and ends in vowels verses "Susan" which begins and ends in consonants, giving it a less feminine, or, as bryan and i like to say "frilly", feel.

Another factor for us is that I have a particular attraction to "n"s in names--my name and my sister's names all include them (Karen, Lauren, Renee) and my husband's name does as well (Bryan). I think Susan was so attractive to me as a name because it felt appropriate for a little girl name--and what little girls did I know better than Karen and Lauren? The name "Susan" blends right in with its similar length, repetition of consents, and concluding "en" sound. And, it also is fairly similar to the love-of-my-life's name--Bryan and Susan have very similar sounds.

So, all that to say, different names attract different people for a myriad of associations and history, so particular its hard to trace it back. there are the obvious things--i dislike the name Andrew because of a high school bully, the meaning of Susan is "lily" which is my favorite flower--but the psychology of naming goes so much deeper than that. i would love to study this further someday.