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Study: An easy-to-pronounce name could boost your job prospects

Madonna opts for the easier to say name option on a regular basis.

Names that are exotic, innovative or just plain weird have for many years extended past the domain of celebrities and into residential houses around the globe.

But new research findings suggest that while popular these names may be holding you back when it comes to career success in what scientists have dubbed the "name pronunciation effect".

And it seems that the greater difficulty employers have saying your name the less likely you are to get an all-important promotion.

The study, which was published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, has been making headlines.

In an article on the news.com.au website lead author, Dr Simon Laham, from Melbourne University's School of Psychological Sciences, said that names play an important role in social interactions.

"The effect is not due merely to the length of a name, or how foreign-sounding or unusual it is, but rather how easy it is to pronounce," he explained.

Dr Laham also said that the key to making it through the schoolyard and into the boardroom unscathed was not to necessarily have a common name, but one that was easy to pronounce without causing any type of embarrassment or anxiety to the person speaking.

The study also found that having an easy-to-pronounce surname could place candidates in a better position to gain a promotion and may even have a direct impact on the way teachers treat their students. Some results also showed that teachers preferred kids with names they didn't stumble over.

Yet short of having to use a friend's recycled business cards, are there things people can do to combat name preference?

Singer and entertainer Madonna Louise Ciccone - her surname is pronounced chee-co-nay in English - obviously thought so, choosing to go by her first name instead of having to face the negative discrimination of fans around the world.