A second alternative explanation is an ethnic/language confound: VanBoven works for VanDyke Associates while LeBoeuf for LeBlanc Associates because the former lives in Dutch speaking Flanders and the latter in French speaking Wallonia; Van is a common Dutch prefix, Le a French one.

　　另外一种可行的解释便是“民族/语言混淆”：VanBoven在VanDyke Associates公司工作，而LeBoeuf在LeBlanc Associates公司工作，原因仅仅又由于前者家住荷兰，说着佛兰德斯方言，而后者住在法国，操一口瓦隆尼亚语；毕竟Van在荷兰语中通常是个前缀，而Le常在法语中起到前缀作用。

　　Whatever the explanation for the name-letter effect, no one really disputes that egotism is involved on some level. But the true importance of the effect is up for debate. "I can't imagine people don't like their own letter more than other letters," says Uri, "but the differences it makes in really big decisions are probably slim."

　　不管人们对“姓名字母效应”作何解释，没有人怀疑“自大”理论在某种程度上起到了一定作用。但是这种效应的真正价值有待商榷。“我无法想象人们会不喜欢自己姓名中的那些字母，”乌里说道，“但是姓名在人们做重大决策时所起的作用很有可能微乎其微。”