Ever found yourself calling your kid by the dog’s name? Don’t worry, you’re not losing it! Mixing up family members’ names is actually super common and totally normal[1].
Here’s the deal: our brains organize information in networks, kind of like a messy filing cabinet[1]. When we’re trying to grab a name quickly, sometimes we accidentally pull out the wrong one from the same mental folder. That’s why you’re more likely to swap names of people (or pets!) who are in the same category in your mind[1].
It turns out this name mix-up thing is a family-wide epidemic. About half of college students say they’ve been called the wrong name by someone they know well. And guess what? In 95% of those cases, it was a family member doing the name-swapping[1].
But it’s not just parents and grandparents getting names wrong. Even young people do it. The study found that 38% of students admitted to accidentally calling someone by the wrong name, usually a family member[1].
Interestingly, we’re actually better at remembering someone’s job than their name[1]. So if you can recall that your neighbor is a dentist but blank on their name, you’re in good company.
As we get older, we might mix up names more often. That’s because our brains lose a bit of the mental agility that used to keep those verbal slip-ups in check[1].
So next time you cycle through the entire family roster before landing on the right name, just remember: it’s not a sign of how much you care. It’s just your brain’s filing system doing its best to keep up with the conversation. And hey, at least you know you’re part of the family – even if they sometimes call you by the dog’s name!
