Why do you forget names immediately after hearing them?

The problem is usually encoding rather than forgetting. Human memory is built around meaning and association, and a name is an arbitrary sound with no inherent connection to the person, which is why you can remember that someone is an architect from Denver with two kids while their name evaporates instantly. Researchers call this the Baker-baker paradox: told that a man's occupation is baker, people remember it well, but told that his name is Baker, they recall the identical word far less often, because the occupation connects to a web of images and knowledge while the name attaches to nothing.

The practical failure is compounded by attention, since introductions typically happen while you are managing a handshake, scanning a room, and rehearsing your own name, so the name is never really processed. The fixes follow directly from the mechanism: repeat the name aloud immediately, use it once or twice in the first minute of conversation, and build a deliberate association, linking the name to a visual image, someone you already know with that name, or a distinctive feature. Asking for a spelling or the origin of an unusual name also forces deeper processing and is socially welcome. And when you inevitably blank, the effective move is admitting it early and directly rather than avoiding the person for the next six months, which is the strategy most people default to.