but babies as young as four and a half months are already learning to recognize their name. According to Psychology Today .com, infants at that age will look toward a voice speaking their name longer than they do toward a voice calling another name. And they can even distinguish between names that sound similar.
Now, this doesn't mean babies actually understand the concept of a name, but it shows that even very young infants can recognize particular patterns of sound. That's the first step toward associating words with meaning. So all that silly cooing parents are doing over the crib is the baby's first English lesson.
Unfortunately, researchers still don't know why teenagers mysteriously lose the ability to recognize their name.