Years ago, I came up with a list of one-handed baby names — that is, names that are typed with either the left hand or the right hand on a QWERTY keyboard.
Turns out there may be a slight advantage to right-hand names.
According to a study published recently in Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, “the QWERTY keyboard may gradually attach more positive meanings to words with more letters located on the right side of the layout (everything to the right of T, G and B).”
Why?
It has to do with fluency.
We tend to like simplicity over complexity, and the harder-to-type letter pairs are on a QWERTY keyboard’s left side — these two facts together may lead people to prefer words (and names) that are typed on the right.
Which names are typed by the right hand only? My original list:
- Holly
- Io
- Jill, Jim, Jimi, Jimmy, Jin, Jo, John, Johnny, Jon, Joni, Joy, Juho, Juli, Julio, Jun, Juno
- Kiki, Kim, Kimi, Kimiko, Kimmy, Kimo, Kip, Kiyoko, Kojo, Kollin, Kumiko, Kyou
- Lili, Lilly, Lilou, Lily, Lin, Lino, Loni, Lonny, Lou, Lulu, Lyn, Lynn
- Miki, Mikki, Mikko, Milly, Milo, Mimi, Min, Minh, Miyu, Molly, Momoko
- Nik, Nikhil, Niki, Nikki, Niko, Nikol, Nikon, Nuno
- Olli, Olujimi, Om
- Phil, Philip, Phillip, Pio, Polly, Poppy
- Yoko, Yuko, Yumi, Yumiko
Can you think of any others?
Source: Mosher, Dave. “The QWERTY Effect: How Typing May Shape the Meaning of Words.” Wired 7 Mar. 2012. (h/t Anthony Mitchell, @aem76us)
Image: Adapted from Apple Macintosh Plus Extended Keyboard by MagicTom13 under CC BY-SA 3.0.
