

Ask HN: How to remember names? - niyazpk

Even though lately I am putting a lot of effort into it, I have this problem of frequently forgetting the names of people. Sometimes I forget very familiar names. This has sometimes resulted in pretty embarrassing situations. Is there any tip or trick that can help me?<p>Thanks in advance.
======
paulgb
I'm bad at this too, a few tricks I use:

\- Say the other person's name out loud as you are introduced.

\- Picture their name written out.

\- If it is a common name, picture a friend or famous person with the same
name.

\- If it is a foreign or uncommon name, break it down by syllable and picture
things with names that sound like those syllables.

\- Try as often as you can to recall the names. If you're in a new group of
people, mentally go around the group and recall everyone's name every so
often.

The hard part is remembering to use the tricks, though :)

------
satyajit
Many smartphones will allow you to attach an image to an addrbook entry, use
it to consciously! Everytime you call and recv a call, you will see the
name+img together - so you can associate name with a img and vice versa!

------
onreact-com
Use a funny memory aid that is a term you a very familiar with that sounds
funny and similar to the actual name or find a short form of the name. My name
is very much unpronounceable let alone memorable for most people in the world
so I made up a new short version of it, Tad Chef. My actual name is Tadeusz
Szewczyk.

Your nick name is a good example: "niyazpk" is very difficult to memorize. It
sounds like a "no yes pic". This memory aid should work especially when you
try to imagine the appearance of a no yes pic.

