FALSE UNIQUENESS EFFECT

My friend Mona Lisa is dismayed by people who give unusual names to their children, as she has been beleaguered  her entire life by having an uncommon name.  Her father loved the Nat King Cole version of the song, rather than being a da Vinci devotee.   Mona says,  "I guess I should be grateful;  I could've been La Giaconda if he'd been an art lover!"

Another friend said, "I tell people to give it the President's test;  if it doesn't sound presidential, don't name them that!" (That was good advice before President Obama.)  She mused, "How does President Tiffany sound?", knowing that the current resident of the White House has a daughter with that name. 

Over the years, I have read numerous articles which tell the problems of having unusual names.  The Wise Geek published the following:

People who have uncommon names tend to be happier.  A person’s name might affect his or her happiness, because people who have rare names report higher levels of happiness than those with more common names, research shows. Researchers believe this could be the result of the subconscious desire of humans to be considered unique from others.  Research also reveals that people who have common names are likely to rate their names as being more rare than they actually are, a psychology term referred to as the false uniqueness effect.