A new neighbor introduces herself over the fence, and by the time the door closes her name has gone. A care worker who visits twice a week has said her name several times, and asking again feels awkward. At a family party, a cousin’s new partner is introduced across a noisy room. Remembering names is one of the most common everyday memory goals, and after a stroke, a brain injury, or another neurological change, the name can be the detail that slips even when the face feels familiar.
Face and name recall is one of the most practical short term memory activities for adults, because the goal is so easy to recognize in daily life. This page offers a free worksheet, FNM2A: eight faces with their names on a study page, and the same faces without names on a recall page. It also covers what a face-name task asks of memory, how face and name items appear in tests such as the Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test (and why a practice page is not the test), and how the 20-worksheet set is graded.
Download the free face-name memory worksheet
Download the PDFWant more pages like this? Face Name Memory (20 Worksheets) $3.50 See the full set
Worksheet FNM2A, the first worksheet of the complex level (level 2 of 2). Page 1 is the study page: lines for name and date, the instructions, three printed memory strategies, and eight faces in two rows of four, each with a first and last name underneath. Page 2 is the recall page: the same eight faces in a new order, in rows of three, three, and two, with a blank line under each face and a field for the number of errors. Free for personal, classroom, and session use.
- Level: complex (level 2 of 2)
- Faces: 8, each with a first and last name
- Pages: 2, study first, then recall
- Timing: a few minutes of study, as the instructions say
- Paper: US Letter
What is a face-name memory task?
A face-name task has two parts. First the person studies a set of faces, each with a name printed underneath. Then the names disappear: on these worksheets, the person turns to a recall page where the same faces appear in a new order, each above a blank line, and writes the name that belongs to each one. Because the faces move, position on the page cannot do the remembering; the face itself has to bring the name back.
What makes the task demanding is that a name has no natural link to a face. Nothing about a smile or a gray beard says which name goes with it, so the link has to be built on purpose during the study time. That is why every study page prints three strategies: link a facial feature with the name, repeat the name aloud or silently, and picture the person doing something related to the name. With eight pairs on the free page, repetition alone gets crowded quickly.
Associative memory
Binding two unrelated things, a face and a name, so that one brings back the other. The first printed strategy, linking a facial feature with the name, builds that bond on purpose.
Visual memory
Recognizing each face again when it turns up somewhere else on the page. On FNM2A the faces move from two rows of four to rows of three, three, and two.
Selective attention
Noticing the details that set one face apart from the others. The complex pages use faces that vary more in age, expression, clothing, and small distinguishing features.
Working memory
Holding several face and name pairs in mind while each one is written down. Eight pairs on a complex page, five on a basic one.
Face and name items in memory tests, and how these worksheets differ
Pairing a face with a name is a familiar item in memory testing. The Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test, now in its third edition (RBMT-3), is a battery of 14 subtests built around everyday memory, and takes about 30 minutes. In its First and Second Names subtest, the person is shown two photographic portraits and asked to remember the first and second names of both people at a later point in the session. A separate Face Recognition subtest shows a set of faces and later asks the person to pick them out from a larger set. The test has norms, is given and interpreted by trained professionals, and is used with adults after a stroke or brain injury, among other groups.
The Face-Name Associative Memory Exam (FNAME) is a research measure introduced in a 2011 study. In its original form the person studies 16 faces, each paired with a name and an occupation, recalls them right away, and recalls them again 30 minutes later. It has been used in studies of memory in older adults, and shorter and translated versions have followed. Both tests use their own faces, names, timing, and scoring. The worksheets here borrow only the general format: faces with names, a gap, then recall.
Worth knowing: these worksheets are practice materials, not the RBMT-3, the FNAME, or any other test. The faces and names are different, there are no norms, and nothing here produces a score that can be compared with a population. They are not an assessment and not a substitute for an evaluation by a qualified professional. If someone is due to have a memory assessment, tell the clinician about regular face and name practice, since familiarity with the format can affect how a result is read.
How the face-name memory worksheets are graded
Twenty worksheets in a 44-page PDF, ten at each of two levels, each one a study page followed by its own recall page with a line under each face and a field for errors. An overview page at the front sets out the objectives and three ways to adjust the difficulty:
Basic, level 1 (10 worksheets, FNM1A to FNM1J)
Five faces per worksheet, in a staggered layout with one face in the middle. The set describes this level as a fit for people who are new to face and name recall or who do better with a lighter load. Worksheet FNM1A is free in our cognitive exercises sampler, linked at the end of this page.
Complex, level 2 (10 worksheets, FNM2A to FNM2J)
Eight faces per worksheet, two rows of four on the study page and rows of three, three, and two on the recall page. The faces vary more in age, expression, clothing, and small distinguishing features. FNM2A, the free sample above, is the first worksheet of this level.
Ways to adjust any page
The overview page suggests first names only for beginners, moving to full names once the person is comfortable; a timed delay of 30 seconds or 1 minute before the recall page; and a shorter study time, cut step by step from 2 minutes to 1 minute, 45 seconds, and 30 seconds.
| What you get | Free sample | Full set |
|---|---|---|
| Worksheets | 1 | 20, in a 44-page PDF |
| Levels | Complex | Basic and complex |
| Faces per worksheet | 8 | 5 at basic, 8 at complex |
| Face and name pairs | 8 | 130 across the set |
| Study page and recall page | Yes | Yes, for every worksheet |
| Printed strategies and errors field | Yes | Yes, on every worksheet |
| Overview page with variations | Summarized on this page | Included |
| Repeat sessions without reusing a page | One worksheet | Weeks of practice |
Memory recall activities for a session or at home
- Study, then turn the page. Give the study page a few minutes, as the instructions say, then turn to the recall page before any writing starts. If the pages are printed back to back, check that the names do not show through thin paper.
- Choose a strategy before the first look. Pick one of the three printed strategies and use it on every face. FNM2A gives plenty to link a name to: dark-framed glasses, a gray beard, a lilac headscarf, gray hair to the shoulders. The same strategies can be tried later on real names, such as a new care worker’s.
- Lighten the load when needed. First names only is the set’s own suggestion for beginners. Or cover the bottom row while studying, then name only the four top-row faces on the recall page.
- Decide what counts as an error. The recall page has a field for the number of errors but no set rule, so agree on one first (a blank line, a wrong name, a right name on the wrong face) and keep it each session. A name on the wrong face says something different from a blank line, so note which it was.
- Say it instead of writing it. If handwriting is slow or effortful, the person says each name and a partner writes it on the line. For a lighter version, the partner reads out a name and the person points to the face, which turns recall into recognition.
- Stretch the gap slowly. When most names come back, add a 30-second or 1-minute delay before the recall page, or cut the study time step by step from 2 minutes down to 30 seconds. Move from the basic pages to the complex ones when five names come back reliably.
Who uses face-name memory worksheets
- Occupational therapists and speech-language professionals working on memory with adults after a stroke or brain injury
- Psychology and neuropsychology teams who want practice material kept separate from test kits
- Hospital, outpatient, and community programs running memory groups
- Activity staff in senior living, where the basic pages and first names only keep the load light
- Caregivers, family members, and adults who want a structured way to practice remembering names at home
All of our worksheets are designed to be adult-appropriate and visually clean, with no cartoons or childish decoration.
The free worksheet above is one of twenty. The full Face Name Memory set includes both levels and the overview page with its variations. It is also part of the Memory Worksheets Bundle, 120 worksheets across five sets, alongside story recall, pattern recall, auditory working memory, and picture recall. For a five-face page to start with, basic worksheet FNM1A is in the free cognitive exercises sampler; for remembering a scene rather than a name, try the free picture recall worksheet. Our guide to memory worksheets for adults explains how the formats fit together.
These materials support cognitive stimulation and structured practice. They are not medical treatment or an assessment, and no specific therapeutic outcomes are claimed.
