Your Name Is A Wake Word, Part 2: On Being Perpetually Lit

In “Your Name Is a Wake Word: Part 1 (The Science),” we see how neuroscience suggests parallels between our brains and smart devices, with our own names akin to personalized “wake words.” Building on this insight, this post considers what that may mean for people living in today’s highly personalized world.

Is Your Name Making You Tired?

According to retail experts, we live in the Age of Personalization.

Want a beach towel with your name? Maybe some jewelry dangling each of your children’s names? How about a custom-felted pool table? A Ferrari paint hue named just for you?*

No problem. Retail experts have preached for nearly a decade now that personalization is becoming the new norm, not the exception. Mostly gone are the days of children feverishly rummaging through gift shop carousels hoping to find their names among the “Billys” and “Heathers.” Today in many places, you can walk into a gift store and walk out with even the most uncommon name freshly engraved, heat-transfered, or otherwise emblazoned on your purchase. Failing that, online you can whip up personalized sheets, flags, even donuts, before you finish your morning coffee.

Is there anything you can't put your name on these days?

Meanwhile… you’ve probably noticed that a growing amount of mail and emails that used to be addressed “Dear Resident” or “Dear Friend” is now addressed “Dear Brittany,” "Dear Tyler," “Dear Mei Ling."  And the volume of communication people produce each day has exploded, with dozens of emails generated in the time it once took to handwrite a letter.

The result might be that we encounter – see, hear, and use – our names dramatically more than our forebears, every day.

But how much more?  That’s a compelling question – and if there’s any research on this, it's hard to find.

Ever Feel Inundated?

How many times does the average person hear their name in an ordinary day? How often do we say them? Write them? Read them in emails, texts, or tags? How many times does someone call out to us, start a sentence with our name, or use it to get our attention, affirm our presence, or direct a command?

It feels like the kind of question someone somewhere must have studied. And yet… it seems to be missing – and sorely needed.

It Adds Up Surprisingly Fast

If you write 40 emails a day at work, you probably sign your name 40 times. If you receive an equal number of emails, that’s double the name drops, each potentially activating that unique brain sequence that neuroscience shows is always on alert.

If you’re in a household with kids or a workplace with coworkers or clients, your name may get spoken dozens of times—by people calling for help, checking in, asking questions, or just using it as punctuation.

If you’re signing checks or order forms or permission slips or credit card terminals, your name is in use and likely lighting up your brain. If your barista calls your name to pick up your coffee, you get a little neurological jolt besides the caffeine.

And people with common names may hear their wake word even more - each time sounding a tiny bell in their nervous system before their brain figures out it wasn’t meant for them.

All of these small but frequent stimuli add to one’s cognitive load. Each time your brain has to process your name, it's a small task that consumes a tidbit of mental energy. While individually insignificant, what happens when the sheer number of these events throughout the day accumulate?

Does It Matter? It Might...

Picture your little smart device lighting up each time it hears its name.

Neuroscience tells us that the brain uses electrochemical signaling. So how much energy goes into each passing name drop?

The most likely answer is that it depends on the individual’s relationship with their name. If a name sits light and breezy on its owner’s shoulders, or evokes positive feelings, the stimulus may be negligible, or perhaps even energizing.

But when the name carries negative baggage – as often happens from personal trauma or societal stereotyping – it may become a tiny energy draw that repeats a hundred times a day. Each mention is a single, harmless raindrop, but together they form a relentless storm that can feel overwhelming.

“Name bombardment” is a term used by advocacy groups like Alexa activists who are pushing back against Amazon’s use of their given name as for its virtual assistant. They describe a constant barrage of hearing their name – often used as a command rather than a personal identifier – and how disorienting and dehumanizing that can feel.

As scientists discover more and more about how names affect people, and we experience the steady magnification of that effect, it seems worth further examination.

Whatever the Findings, the Solution Will Lie Not in Avoiding Names, But in Valuing Them

A century ago, most people’s names existed in the mouths of people near them. You’d hear your name in your home, among neighbors, maybe in letters or a book – not broadcast into your home and environment.

Now, your name is a corporate asset—served up on a silver platter to marketers, algorithms, and bots. It’s in your email box, your wallet, your toybox, your dresser, and your bathroom closet. Sometimes it’s a cultural watchword too.

There’s no denying we’re exposed to far more information daily than our predecessors. This includes gratuitous mentions of our name – that little button specially hardwired into your brain, where each ping draws a special response.

So when you’re feeling overstimulated, drained, or tired, consider how this may be contributing.

We track how much electricity our smart devices spend when they remain at our beck and call, listening for that wake word. Maybe we should notice the same for ourselves.

Because like it or not, your name is still your original wake word. It’s what pulls you in, what lights you up, what snaps you to attention. And in a world where our names are being called more than ever, holding onto the deeper meaning of our names—the stories, the connections, the sense of self and love they carry—may be what makes our energy use sustainable.  

If topics like this intrigue you, join the Museum of Names newsletter to discover the power and stories behind names every week. Alas, the Museum is not getting commissions from Ferrari or other links on this page. And we're sorry, the ugly lamp is not for sale. But we welcome donations with personal and heartfelt thanks.

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P.S. Read more about the brain science behind your name here.