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.

　　另外一種可行的解釋便是“民族/語言混淆”：VanBoven在VanDyke Associates公司工作，而LeBoeuf在LeBlanc Associates公司工作，原因僅僅又由于前者家住荷蘭，說著佛蘭德斯方言，而后者住在法國，操一口瓦隆尼亞語；畢竟Van在荷蘭語中通常是個前綴，而Le常在法語中起到前綴作用。

　　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."

　　不管人們對“姓名字母效應”作何解釋，沒有人懷疑“自大”理論在某種程度上起到了一定作用。但是這種效應的真正價值有待商榷?！拔覠o法想象人們會不喜歡自己姓名中的那些字母，”烏里說道，“但是姓名在人們做重大決策時所起的作用很有可能微乎其微。”