Problem remembering names?

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I'm sure there is some of that happening but there have been many times I've tried to remember the name of a band until I could get to some paper to right it down and I'll just say it over and over in my head but if I get side tracked for a second it's gone.

I know if you see an object you store the image on the right side of your brain but you remember the word for the object on the left side.

I expect that could be because the name is rather meaningless to you. Though I must confess I can forget things that actually mean a lot to me - sometimes I read a post and I think of something that seems really important, but 10 seconds later I've forgotten it. Still, if I keep calm and browse over the material that first gave me the thought, I'm amazed how often I can remember. I'm sure these things are not usually deleted, just hard to access.

There are some tips and tricks for memory things of course. Saying the name of the band out loud should retain it longer. Check it out for features of interest - what does the first significant word of the name mean to you? Anything you can picture? Then picture it, as vividly as you can. Pay particular attention to the first letter and first syllable of the name. If you can recall that, the rest usually follows. There are also lots of schemes to convert numbers (which most of us see as too cold and featureless to focus on) into pictures of objects....though personally I find them too boring to use. I try to carry a pencil and a bit of paper at all times, as the best solution to memory problems. Human memory is too fuzzy for some things.

Saying it out load helps a little but I find that turning it into a song helps me the most. I often remember long strings of number this way at work.

I still don't think for me the meaningfulness is the entire story. I'm fascinated by military history but cannot remember the people names, place names, dates, or order of the events but can tell you exactly what happened. For instance I can recall a battle and I would remember the shape of the countries involved, the terrain of the battlefield, the uniforms, the faces of the commanders, the tactics and equipment and many other details but no dates, names, or proper nouns.

That's a known memory technique - mapping it onto something you already know.


I don't know why that is.

This is the coping skill that I've used (it took me forever to figure this out).
I always use someone's name when I am talking to the them. It sounds awkward but if don't, then I will forget other peoples names.

I'm really bad at remembering names and faces unless I see them daily.
I usually remember voices much better.
If I'm watching a movie I usually recognize actors by their voices before I recognize their faces.

Being introduced to people - I live on a commune so there is transient population - is hearing disembodied syllables. But! if someone says something interesting, I'll ask for their name and never forget it. Too bad that happens so rarely.

I can remember peoples faces but terrible with names though.

I've stopped presenting myself to people if not 100% certain. Tired of family and friends getting angry at me for forgetting them. So names, faces and the lot. Even got some wonderful police situations because of this. How can they expect me to always remember my name, address and numbers. Way to get random police street questionings to evolve into suspect of identity fakery.

people should have their names tattooed onto their forehead. it would make things much easier.