DURHAM, N.C. -- It's happened to many of us: While looking right at someone you know very well, you open your mouth and blurt out the wrong name. The name you blurt is not just any old name, though, says new research from Duke University that finds "misnaming" follows predictable patterns.
Among people who know each other well, the wrong name is usually plucked from the same relationship category, the study finds. Friends call each other by other friends' names, and family members by other family members' names. And that includes the family dog.