Being good with names is a skill everyone can benefit. It makes meeting new friends easier, socializing smoother and makes people feel important. As Dale Carnegie puts it, “a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” We want doctors who can remember the names of their patients and teachers who know their students by name. People receive job rejection letters because  of misspelled names. Names are important!

I used to be on-and-off with remembering names. Some people’s names would easily stick with me while others I would forget within the first 10 seconds. However, I have created a method using old time-tested techniques and modern technology that has helped me remember over 95% of the names of people I meet over a period of months and even years.

How To Remember Names

1. Pay Attention – The crucial period for remembering a name is within the first 5-10 seconds of hearing it. Concentrate and focus when a person says their name. Mentally repeat the name to yourself a few times. The most common reason for forgetting a name is that people don’t paying attention or were not listening when a person said their name. How can you remember a name if you didn’t even hear it? Treat this first interaction as if they were announcing the winning numbers of a lottery draw. Often, I find paying attention to the introduction of a name the first time is often enough to make me remember their name. Don’t think about your own introduction and how you’ll make a good first impression when somebody is introducing themselves. Remembering their names will be one of the best first impressions you can do.
2. Repeat Their Name, Use it in Conversation – Once you hear their name, repeat it, repeat it, repeat it. Say it to yourself in your head several times. Use it in the conversation to address the person. For instance, if somebody introduces themselves as Sally, you could follow it up with “it’s nice to meet you Sally.” Just the action of saying a name out loud makes it hard to forget. It strengthens your memory of the name through different senses. I guarantee that if you say their name immediately, you will remember their name until at least the conversation is over. It will make the conversation more natural too, but don’t overuse their name either.
3. Make Associations with the Name - Building upon the concept of remembering a name in multiple ways, mental imagery or silly sounds will help solidify a name. For instance, if you meet a Victoria, you could picture her dressed up in Victorian-era clothes or if you meet a Christopher, you could make the sound in your head of chris-TO-fer. The more exaggerated and wacky the associations the more likely is it going to stick. If the person has a shared name with a celebrity or another friend, you can look for common associations between the two. Even creating a mental imagery of the two people standing together will help you remember. Picturing your best friend Kevin with the Kevin you just met will create an image you can refer back to if you ever forget their name.
4. If you forget, don’t be afraid to ask again – Sometimes, despite our best efforts we will forget our name and it can be embarrassing. However, you should immediately ask for their name once you forget. The sooner you do, the less awkward it will be. To forget somebody’s name in the first ten minutes is totally acceptable, to not know their name after meeting them multiple times will be a big turn-off. You could say, “Sorry, I’m bad with names and I forget your name, could you repeat it again.” People will actually appreciate your honesty and won’t take any offense to it. In fact, people will be happy that you found them important enough to take the time to find out their name. If you meet the person for a second time and forgot their name, you could say, “I remember your face, but I can’t recall your name.” Admitting what that you don’t know is sincere and people appreciate the honesty.
5. Ask them to pronounce and spell their name if it’s uncommon or tricky – Very often you’ll hear a name that you can’t make out clearly or a name that you haven’t heard of before. This happens a lot with cultural specific names. Instead of making a fool out of yourself by butchering their name, ask them to repeat their name slowly or even better yet to spell it out. Again, people aren’t offended if you didn’t catch their name on the first go. They’ll be glad that you took the time to get their name correct. Even for common English names, I find that asking them to spell their name helps me remember them. It can be as simple as clarifying whether the name was Kevin, Calvin or Kelvin.
6. Write down their name – After talking to someone, writing down their name will help you recall who they are the next time you meet them. For instance, after a social event when I get home, I have open up a word document on my computer titled “Names,” though a piece of paper will do fine too. I will start with the date and location and then attempt to write down the names of the people I met along with a brief description. A sample entry would be, “Welcome BBQ – Paul – shaggy hair, thick glasses, funny, likes tennis.” I try to include a physical description along with some personal details to make it as memorable as possible. It will only take several minutes to do it but the benefits will be far greater than the time spent. Again, just the fact that you’ve added a layer of writing to your memory will solidify your remembering that much more. Furthermore, if you know there’s a chance that you’ll meet the same person again, you can always open up the word document and do a quick scan to refresh your name memories.
7. Use Tools to Help You – There are so many technologies that can help you remember names. You can ask for an email or phone number after meeting someone to stay in touch. Social networks like Facebook or MySpace is just another tool that can help you remember someone. Just add them after meeting them and you would have created a names list just like suggestion no 6. You can also extend the conversation on the internet to further to get to know them. Interacting with people is not limited to face to face time, use whatever means you’re comfortable with.
8. Be Genuinely Interested in Them – I have found that showing a genuine interest in other people to be the best way to remembering their names. I never forget the names of people that I find entertaining. I don’t have a hard time remembering a cute girl’s name or someone who did a favor for me. Try to find something interesting and positive in everyone you meet and get to know the person. Build a story around them and it will make remembering that name that much easier.