Do You Have Trouble Remembering Names/Faces?

[dancinmama]

I am good at faces, but really bad at names. If I run into someone I recognize I often am just honest with them and say, "I'm really sorry, but I don't remember your name"; usually they are not at all offended - or not that I can tell.

[Deleted]

I've always had a hard time with this too... Usually I just tell people that I'm horrible at remembering names, and to forgive me in advance if I ask them their name 20 times

[MN-Investor]

I am awful with both names and faces.

For a while I was doing PC support at my company. I would go help someone with their computer, then not recognize them later in the hallway when I saw them again.

I had one trick I used to do. I started out in the tax department of my company. If someone came looking for my boss and he wasn't around, they might pop their head in my cubicle to see if I knew when he would be back (we had no admin near us, I was a tax analyst). Then they would ask if I would tell him they were looking for him. Often they were VPs or director level so I sure didn't feel comfortable asking their name - I should have recognized them. What I would do is ask for their extension. With our phone system, we could call into the system and then dial an extension to leave a message and the person's name would be announced, so I could do that to find out who they were! Or, if I had an inkling of who they were, I could double-check in the phone book.

Thank goodness my DH is fantastic at both names and faces. That's great in social situations.

[The J]

I don't have much of a problem with faces. Names, on the other hand, escape me. I've gotten very good at talking to people whose names I can't remember, without letting then find out.

[MB-NY]

I am terrible putting a name to a face. In the past when my job was on a customer service counter, we had regular customers who came in daily, so those were no problem. I would get a little fuzzy if it was someone I had not seen in some time. I would know what company they worked for, but could not remember a name. Sadly, I'm the same even with relatives I haven't seen in years. In my defense, I have a lot of relatives I haven't been with in 10, 20, or even more years.

Most of my work for the last 15 years is on the phone, so I have notes where I can cheat a little. I have names to match to companies that call in.

[kinetickid]

Jan 15, 2011 8:42:01 GMT -5 Lady Gaga Gaga Snerd said:

I really have great difficulty with that and it is highly embarrassing. I just cannot remember names or even faces unless I am interacting with them on a regular basis. I have tried word associations, writing down their names and on and on to no avail. And, you can only ask someone to tell you their name so many times. I find that I will just listen for someone else to say their name and then I can use it but if nobody does I have to try to talk and not be too obvious!

I sorta have this. In my case, I have trouble remembering faces, though I remember features (if that makes any sense). And if I see someone out of context (e.g. my next door neighbor at the grocery store instead of at home), then I have a hard time recognizing him. In fact, this exact thing happened to me with my babysitter!

My babysitter of all people! She's watched my kid countless times over the years, and I still didn't recognize her once when we bumped into each other at a coffee shop. Very, very sad.

It happens to me all the time.

Even with celebrities (we live in Los Angeles). Hubby sees them everywhere, but I don't. If they're not on TV or a movie screen, I just don't recognize them, even when they look identical to their on-screen selves.

[kinetickid]

Jan 15, 2011 9:02:08 GMT -5 Lady Gaga Gaga Snerd said:

There is a disorder called prosopagnosia, so maybe i can blame that!

I think I have a mild case of this (and some severe cases of other disorders ).

Sadly, I can remember a phone number weeks after I've dialed it, or an address a week later even if I never referred to it again. But I can't recognize a face.

Oh, and I can drive right to a location I've been to only once before 6 months ago, even without a GPS or map. I just remember it (I have a fabulous sense of direction).

But I can't recognize Reese Witherspoon when she's right in front of me at Whole Foods.

[naggie72]

Do you think it may be that the ones you remember are the ones you may like better. When I was in the ER with my FIL there was a woman there that I recognized immediately, she looked at me too. She seemed to be busy with an infant so I didn't say anything. After about 10 mins she came over to me saying is your name ( ). This is a woman I worked with at a bank around 14 years ago and we liked eachother alot and went to eachothers family parties.

[kinetickid]

Jan 15, 2011 12:46:25 GMT -5 Queen of Interesting Nuts said:

Do you think it may be that the ones you remember are the ones you may like better. When I was in the ER with my FIL there was a woman there that I recognized immediately, she looked at me too. She seemed to be busy with an infant so I didn't say anything. After about 10 mins she came over to me saying is your name ( ). This is a woman I worked with at a bank around 14 years ago and we liked eachother alot and went to eachothers family parties.

Nope, not for me. If the person is out of the context in which I got to know them, I won't recognize them, regardless if I like them or not.

[Deleted]

Do You Have Trouble Remembering Names/Faces?

Faces, I am excellent with. Names I am one of the worst in the world at remembering names. In my younger days when I was dating I called all of the girls I dates honey or baby or something like that because I could never remember their names. I worked with a psychiatrist for a year & he even commented on it. He thought it was strange that I could remember drugs that someone was on or had been on years before but not remember someone's name that I had been introduced to 5 minutes before.
I have always been that way.

[Deleted]

I used to be so good with faces, but now they have changed so much.

[kinetickid]

Jan 15, 2011 17:29:39 GMT -5 @oldtex said:

Do You Have Trouble Remembering Names/Faces?

Faces, I am excellent with. Names I am one of the worst in the world at remembering names. In my younger days when I was dating I called all of the girls I dates honey or baby or something like that because I could never remember their names. I worked with a psychiatrist for a year & he even commented on it. He thought it was strange that I could remember drugs that someone was on or had been on years before but not remember someone's name that I had been introduced to 5 minutes before.
I have always been that way.

Me, too. In order for me to remember a name, I have to ask the person to spell it for me, and then I repeat the spelling, visualizing the letters as they're said. Since my visual memory is a million times better than my auditory memory, converting the name to pictures (in the form of letters) goes a long way in helping me remember it.

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

I usually don't remember names of people I don't know that well and won't see more than once a year if that - like a sister of a sister-in-law or the spouse of a co-worker. If I'm going to be seeing someone on a more regular basis I try to relate their name to something about them until it's memorized. (Ex: If their name is Tim/tall, Mike/moustache, Sandra/short, Bonnie/blonde, etc).

[Peace Of Mind]

Jan 15, 2011 8:57:07 GMT -5 dancinmama said:

I am good at faces, but really bad at names. If I run into someone I recognize I often am just honest with them and say, "I'm really sorry, but I don't remember your name"; usually they are not at all offended - or not that I can tell.

That's me too. Or I'll say "I remember YOU, but can't recall your name."

[kinetickid]

Jan 16, 2011 7:44:59 GMT -5 Lady Gaga Gaga Snerd said:

I also don't have the same type of memory. Seems I do great with tests, book knowledge, etc. But, I can't remember all that much from bygone years. My spouse can recall tons of stuff from elementary school such as people, teachers, and events. I barely remember anything from k-4. I don't know why. It never bothered me much before until I have met people who seem to recall their entire lives from the womb.

My husband is that way. It's like his early life was blank. His family will share an anecdote from his childhood--not necessarily his toddler years--and he has no recollection of it. He had a GREAT childhood, but he doesn't really remembe much until he was about 8 years old.