Kiki/Bouba effect. Because Rui has a Rui’s face (and Ana Cara de Ana)

We usually associate certain types of names and sounds in certain ways – and this includes our faces. But after all why is Rui’s face Rui and Ana has Ana’s face?

Let’s imagine 2 formsone of them more rounded and bubble and one more pointed and irregular.

If we have to associate each of the figures a certain name with each of these forms, Which one is kiki and which one is bouba?

The largest parts of people choose the name Bouba for the most rounded and closest bubble, while the most sharp and irregular shape is usually associated with the name Kiki.

But after all, why does this happen this way and why do we associate certain names with a certain kind of form or face?

This behavior reflects the way our brain connects sensory information: the word “Bouba” has soft and rounded sounds (like the sounds of “B” and “or”), reflecting the round shape.

In turn, the word “Kiki” has acute and angular sounds (like “k” and “i”), combining with the irregular shape.

It’s as if some connections between sounds and meanings were universaland not learned. This has implications for language development, brands building, and even how children learn words.

Our parents’ guilt

Let us now think, for example, in future parents who are struggling with the difficult decision to choose a name for their little ones. According to one published in 2024 in PNASto adapt to our name.

The starting base for the study was the discovery of a phenomenon known as “Correspondence Effect Name-Room” – which refers to the ability of people to look at a face and, with amazing accuracyidentify the correct name from a list of options – better than if they were simply guessing.

This effect raises two possibilities: or Parents look at the baby’s face and choose a name that somehow, Combines with heror the names that are given to us end up influencing our appearance, to the point of becoming similar to our own name.

During the 2024 study, a team of Israeli researchers tested these two hypotheses in a series of experiences, in which they asked participants who associate faces of adults and children to their names.

Participants had a Setting rate above mere chance In the case of adult faces, but had difficulty hitting children’s names.

These results suggest that, over time, We started to look With our name, instead of simply getting a name that is well based on the birth, note a.

In another study, researchers used automatic learning to evaluate the similarity between the faces of people who share the same name versus those who do not share it.

The results showed that adults with the same name had a sharp facial resemblancewhich was not found among children with the same name.

This meets the idea that Our appearance is shaped named after the years. But can our name really shape our face?

Thus, researchers suggest that people probably internalize the stereotypes associated with your name And over time, they end up behaving in ways that change your appearance to fit these stereotypes.