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What's Your Name? I can tell you all about yourself, your personality, health and much more just from your full legal name.

Surely your name is nothing more than a collection of random letters that your parents chose for you for whatever reason? (Perhaps they named you after a favourite relative, or someone famous, or maybe they named you after a name in a song?) Your name can't really have any effect on you or your health, career and relationships can it? That sounds so far-fetched. And how could it possibly affect what happens to you in your life?

Well, an article that appeared in a Scottish newspaper last summer (July 2006) seemed to think that names have some effect ' their article reported that according to some research into car crashes, young men with the name Ben were the most likely to have a car accident.

I was asked to comment on this later that day on Radio 2 in my capacity as a Name Analyst. My first reaction was 'Ridiculous! Of course that is all just coincidence!' However, I then analysed the name Ben and also Benjamin prior to the interview, and some interesting things came up. The name Ben indicates someone very caring, loving and thoughtful. The name Benjamin (often shortened to Ben) indicates someone with a love of socialising, fun, mixing with others. Health-wise the liver is very sensitive for Benjamins so the combination of a love of socialising with a sensitive liver suggests that someone with the name Benjamin may like a drink or two and the alcohol will be particularly detrimental for him due to a sensitive liver. Also the letter M in Benjamin indicates sudden, violent changes outside of his control. This letter affects him for 4 years at certain ages. So, I had to admit that the statistics about car accidents may have had some truth to them after all.

When I had my own name analysed years ago, it made so much sense, not just about my personality, but also about all the emotional ups and downs in my life (my name at that time contained many letter I's which highlight emotional highs and lows. Since changing my own name and seeing the results (within one year every aspect of my life had changed for the better, coincidence perhaps?) I studied an ancient, scientific system of Name Analysis and qualified as a Name Analyst. I have analysed countless names since then. The positive feedback I get reinforces my belief that there is much, much more to our names than we ever realised. The Royal Families in ancient Egypt and Hebrew countries certainly knew this, as did many in biblical times if you read the Bible. Just look at all the name changes in that Book!

What examples are there of how changing a name can change a person and what happens to them? One good example to think about is in the case of Ladies who get married. When they take on their husband's surname, as many do, little do they know that they are taking on a lot more than just a name! They are in fact taking on a whole new set of personality traits, which may or may not suit them. Have you ever wondered why couples can often successfully live together, but once they are married it sometimes all goes wrong? All that has changed is the ladies' name. But if for instance, she is a bubbly outgoing person who takes on an introvert surname then she may lose her sparkle, become more withdrawn, and this could cause problems if her husband loved her for her outgoing side! She may also take on letters in her new name that bring emotional loss, stress and strain or financial problems, which again, won't help the relationship. (The letters in our name also affect us for better or worse). The reverse is also true ' the new name may be really positive for her, but unless she has the new name analysed before taking it on, it is all a lottery. In the world of entertainment, just look at the 'Stars' who have a different name today to the one they were born with. Would they have been as successful with their original name? Can we really imagine John Wayne being called by his birth name Marion?