It kind of seems like it, like I imagine someone named Melissa or Katie to be a blonde, and someone named Meghan or Molly a redhead, while a name like Jasmine brings to mind a woman with black hair. I guess a lot of it probably has to do with the fact many people choose names that reflect their ethnic backgrounds, but don’t you agree that names often seem to reflect the way a person looks, especially women’s names?
I wonder if we subconsciously associate certain phonetic sounds with attributes of physical appearance.
A side note: I notice it’s common for teenage girls/20somethings who are Asian to have names that are more typical of middle aged white people. Like if someone is named Cheryl or Patricia and is under 30, there’s a very high probability they are of Asian descent.
Well names like Megan and Molly are Irish - so you are going to get more redheads there.
Names like Maria are going to be higher among Roman Catholics - and Italians - and therefore more brunette.
Of course different names get adopted by different countries in different amount - so it depends on how much intermingling goes on.
As far as Cheryl or Patricia being likely to be Asian names - I never really noticed, but now that you mention it - I think there is some truth (not necessarily that someone named Patricia is more likely to be Asian, but that the percentage of English like Asian names that are older sounding - seems higher).
I’m guessing this is more for cultural reasons. I’m not sure why the trend to name your baby with these weird names kids get now a days, but whatever. I’m guessing - but have no clue - that perhaps some Asian parents are less aware of this trend - and/or associate less with Caucasian women who seem to follow this trend more and/or are under pressure not to name their kids so that they sound like something THEIR parents aren’t familiar with (trust fund baby names/sounds like stripper/weird endings).
Anyway - I don’t really have strong biases in what I think someone will look like based on their first name. But, sometime I will think “oh that person doesn’t look like a Susan”, but I don’t know why (although for some reason I wouldn’t expect Susan to have black hair).
Megan is Welsh, and I doubt if Molly is any more typically Irish than it is English. It is, originally, a traditional “nickname” form of Mary, as Jack is for John, or Bill for William.
The explanation for the OP’s observations is, I am fairly sure, confirmation bias. Some names may be disproportionately associated with particular, non-wasp ethnic origins, but not, I think, any of those mentioned.
I think the OP is speaking from an American perspective. In the US, Megan and Molly are strongly associated with an Irish-American background, and red hair is strongly associated with Irish heritage.
I know exactly what you mean, but my name-appearance connections differ slightly. Almost any name starting with an S - Samantha, Sandra, Samuel, Sarah - is blonde. Bob, for some reason, is also blonde, but not Robert. Emily has lots of freckles, lots of the Js for both genders (Julia, Jack, James) are redheads, Diane, Emma, and Tiffany are brunettes, Lucy and Isabelle have black hair, the list goes on and on. It’s really weird, because for a significant amount of them, I don’t actually know anyone who fits the mental image - there have been times when I’m kind of taken aback by a person’s name because they don’t “look” like their name would suggest. For most of it, though, I think it’s conformation bias.
If Americans think Megan In any of its variant spellings) is an Irish name, they are wrong. It is Welsh. I am pretty sure they are wrong about Molly too (if, indeed, they, rather than just you, think it is particularly Irish).
It is probably true that red hair is more common than usual amongst the Irish, as it amongst other Celtic people, such as the Scots, or, indeed, the Welsh.
Surely Ranga is gender neutral? I’ve never heard anyone reserve it for redheaded females only. It’s short for orangutan. As the daughter of a Bluey, the mother of two small rangas and aunt to a couple of carrot tops, I feel like I’m coming from a fairly informed perspective
People often call redhaired boys in Ireland Ruadhán or Ruairi (Rory).
Fairhaired boys are sometimes called Fionn or Finn and fairhaired girls Fionnuala often shortened to Nuala.
Certain names SHOULD be tied to hair color but aren’t.
Examples? Well, the names Kieran and Ciara both come from the Gaelic word for “black.” SO, you’d THINK an Irish or Irish-AMerican kid with either of those names would have dark hair or dark skin, right?
But in reality, there’s rarely any connection. People either don’t know or don’t care what the name means. So, there are plenty of fair-skinned blond or red-headed Kierans and Caras.
