29 July 20268 min readUpdated 2 November 2026

Five approaches to remembering names, compared

Compare Carnegie’s social principle with four name-memory methods. See the steps, attention costs and situations each approach suits.

By Namefinity editorial team · Read about our guides

A person comparing listening, picture association and scheduled card-practice methods.

Listening to a new name and making a picture of its sound ask for different kinds of effort. This guide compares Carnegie’s advice with four ways to learn names. It shows the steps and what each asks you to do during a talk. A separate section looks at the practice Nelson Dellis describes behind his memory demonstrations.

We use public articles and notes, plus a paper that describes Lorayne’s method. None of the people below has reviewed or supported Namefinity. We judge how much each method asks you to do during a talk. These judgments come from reading the steps, not from a trial comparing the methods.

Which name-memory method should you choose? Choose for the difficulty you have. Carnegie emphasises interest in the person. Kwik and Santos give conversational actions. Lorayne and White describe image-based cues. Dellis describes checking and revisiting names after the introduction. Consider the attention a method asks for and whether it helps with the name you actually need, rather than trying every method at once.

Five approaches at a glance

Approach	Core emphasis	Attention during a conversation	Imagery	Later practice
Carnegie’s social principle	Names help recognise the individual	Listening and natural name use	Outside the selected principle	No schedule in this principle
Jim Kwik	Seven-step BE SUAVE routine	Several actions to choose among	One step	Practice is explicit
Chester Santos	Repeat, use, connect, say goodbye by name	Conversational actions plus a connection	Optional advanced layer	No later schedule in these four steps
Harry Lorayne	Substitute word linked to a facial feature	Build and link an image	Central	Image cues later recall
Ron White	Facial feature as a "file" for an animated name image	Build and place an animated image	Central	Explicit review

Dale Carnegie: the social reason

Carnegie’s advice about names starts with the person. Learning a name can help you greet someone with warmth and interest. Listen to the name, check it when needed and use it where it fits the exchange. This row looks at that social aim. It does not set out a memory routine.

Modern Dale Carnegie Tokyo advice also teaches ways to link names with vivid images. That is later training advice, beyond the social aim chosen here. The table does not sum up all Carnegie training. Our Carnegie guide works through a greeting and a request for a forgotten name.

Jim Kwik: BE SUAVE

Jim Kwik's public notes use seven steps called BE SUAVE:

Believe you can improve rather than rehearsing "I'm bad with names."
Exercise the skill through practice.
Say it back after hearing it.
Use it naturally in conversation.
Ask about spelling, origin or meaning where appropriate.
Visualize a memorable image for the name.
End it by using the name when saying goodbye.

This is the widest daily plan in the list. It covers listening, saying the name, adding meaning, making a picture and using the name again.

Kwik suggests using the name three or four times. In a conversation, pay attention to whether those repetitions fit what you are saying. Ask how to pronounce or spell a name when you need to check it. Questions about its origin or meaning may not suit the moment, so leave room for the person to decide what to share. The BE SUAVE guide explains all seven steps through a worked Ruby example.

Chester Santos: four conversational moves

Chester Santos gives four short steps on his site:

immediately repeat the name.
ask a question using it.
connect it with anything you already know.
make one final effort to use it when saying goodbye.

This is one of the easier methods to use in a conversation. You can link the name with a famous person, a place, a picture or someone with the same name. Santos saves harder picture tricks for people who want more help. His conversational steps give you something to do at the introduction without first building an image.

Harry Lorayne: make the face tell you the name

Harry Lorayne wrote and taught about names and faces. He turns a name into a picture. He then makes the picture move on one clear part of the person's face. "Gordon" might become a garden growing around a distinctive eyebrow. When you see the face again, the feature is meant to cue the garden, which cues Gordon.

A 1978 paper describes Lorayne's name-to-image-to-face sequence in its abstract. We use that description without claiming an effect size or a proven advantage in conversation. The method takes work. You must hear the name, turn it into a picture, study the face and make the picture move. That is hard while someone is still talking. It may work better after the talk for a name you keep forgetting. The Lorayne guide shows how to build the cue and check whether it brings back the right name.

Ron White: the facial feature is a file

Ron White publishes a five-part method:

silently ask yourself for the person's name so you pay attention.
choose one part of the face as the "file."
turn the name into a picture.
picture it moving on that part of the face.
review after leaving and again later.

White recommends developing standard pictures for common names, such as a stove for Steve or a brain for Brian, so the conversion becomes faster with practice. This method includes later practice, which some picture methods leave out. It also takes time to learn. You are building a set of pictures as well as learning people.

One introduction, three possible choices

Here is a fictional illustration of our application of three approaches. It is not a teacher's own example or a test of which method works best. You meet Cole at a Saturday bike-repair group. You hear his name clearly, notice his strong eyebrows and learn that he is showing newcomers how to fix brakes.

Carnegie's social aim keeps your attention on the person. “Good to meet you, Cole” checks the name. You then ask about the brake repair and listen to his answer. Cole's role at the group gives you context for the next greeting. This approach can serve the introduction without a separate memory exercise.

Kwik's conversational steps give you another chance to use the name. You say it at the start and retrieve it at goodbye: “Thanks for the help, Cole.” You can choose his visual step later if the name needs more support. The steps fit around the repair talk, with no need to interrupt it to complete the whole acronym.

Lorayne's image link asks for a different action. Turn Cole into coal and picture pieces of coal bouncing along his eyebrows. The intended path is eyebrows → coal → Cole. Look at Cole or a permitted photo later, try to say the name and check it. If the picture brings back Colin, it needs a better sound link.

The choice turns on what is still difficult. If the greeting and shared task are enough, carry on with the activity. If Cole's name keeps slipping, the image gives you a cue to build and check. Making that image takes attention, so a quiet moment after the talk may suit it better.

Nelson Dellis: the practice behind a demonstration

In a 2026 WBUR interview, Dellis describes linking a name to a familiar image and a feature of the person. He links Peter to Peter Griffin and pictures the character combing the interviewer’s hair. He also describes quietly checking the name before leaving, using it naturally later and revisiting names in his journal. The later work matters to the comparison: a polished demonstration does not show all the practice that supports it.

You can use that distinction without starting a journal for everyone you meet. If a name matters for a later encounter and keeps slipping, check it again when you have time. This is a practitioner’s account, not evidence that his routine outperforms the five approaches above or that a normal introduction should become a performance.

Choose by the difficulty you want to solve

Your difficulty	A useful place to start	What to watch for
You did not hear the name	Ask for a clear repetition	A mnemonic cannot check an unheard name
You want a natural introduction	Compare the conversational actions in Kwik and Santos, with Carnegie's social emphasis	Keep listening instead of counting name repetitions
A checked name still needs a cue	Try a familiar connection or one of the image methods	Check that the image supplies the right name

You can choose one action and see whether it helps at your next encounter. A method that takes you away from what the person is saying may belong in separate practice time. Choose the action that serves that difficulty.

For a specific repeated mix-up, the new-job guide covers distinguishing colleagues. If you have simply lost a name during a conversation, use the direct reminder scripts.