Damien, Myra and Carrie are Britain's most feared and mistrusted names due to superstitious and dark associations, according to a survey on Monday.
The poll of 2,000 Britons -- commissioned by Warner Home Video to publicize the release of television series Supernatural Season 4: Volume 2 on DVD -- showed the effects of television and fiction on the way that people view names.
Damien topped the poll with nine out of 10 respondents uneasy about the associations with the devil child from the 1970s film "The Omen". Myra, was the next most feared and distrusted name at 83 percent, potentially due to associations with British serial killer Myra Hindley, the survey said.
That was followed by two other prominent horror film names Carrie (a 1976 film starring Sissy Spacek), Rosemary ("Rosemary's Baby", directed by Roman Polanski) and Judas, who the Bible says betrayed Jesus Christ.
Three quarters of respondents said they would avoid dating someone with the name Damien and 66 percent of women said they were superstitious about naming a child after someone they hated at school or an ex-boyfriend.
More than a third of respondents said they believed that teachers gave higher marks to children with attractive names and 70 percent of people said they would pass judgment about a person's lifestyle and character based on their name.
A top 10 list of superstitious names follows:
1) Damien 90 pct
2) Myra 83 pct
3) Carrie 76 pct
4) Rosemary 73 pct
5) Judas 69 pct
6) Adolf 65 pct
7) Pandora 63 pct
8) Regan 60 pct
9) Samara 50 pct
10) Boris 41 pct
據本周一公布的一項調查顯示,達緬、米拉和凱莉是英國人最懼怕和最不信任的名字,因為它們和迷信以及一些不吉利的說法有關。
該調查顯示了電視劇和小說影響到人們對名字的看法。這項調查受華納家庭視頻公司委托開展,共有2000名英國人參加,其目的是為電視劇《邪惡力量第四季》DVD第二卷的發(fā)布進行宣傳。
“達緬”這個名字在調查中居首,十名受訪者中有九人因為聯(lián)想到20世紀70年代的電影《兇兆》中魔鬼之子而感到不安。僅次于達緬的是米拉,83%的受訪者對其心存迷信,這可能是因為該名讓人聯(lián)想到英國連環(huán)殺手米拉-新德利。
緊隨達緬和米拉的是另外兩部著名恐怖電影中的名字——凱莉(1976年影片,由茜茜-斯派塞克主演)和羅絲瑪麗(影片《魔鬼怪嬰》,由羅曼?波蘭斯基導演)以及《圣經》中背叛耶穌基督的猶大。
四分之三的受訪者稱,他們會盡量避免與名叫達緬的人約會,66%的女性受訪者說給她們忌諱用自己上學時討厭的某個同學或是前男友的名字給孩子起名。
超過三分之一的受訪者認為老師在打分時往往會偏向那些名字好聽的孩子,70%的人說他們會依據一個人的名字來判斷他的生活方式和性格。
十大不吉利名字排行榜:
1) 達緬 90%
2) 米拉 83%
3) 凱莉 76%
4) 羅絲瑪麗 73%
5) 猶大 69%
6) 阿道夫 65%
7) 潘多拉 63%
8) 里根 60%
9) 薩馬拉 50%
10)伯里斯 41%