Do different names lend themselves to different character traits?

I just finished watching a silly Steven Segal movie (reduncancy alert!) The main bad guy was Screw Face, which, to me anyway, doesn’t really inspire terror. Then in the credits, I saw his real life name is Basil. Really? Basil? I can’t even see it in print without hearing Prunella Scales spitting it.
I got to thinking, the hero of The Princess Bride explained that it was the name that inspired fear; “No one would surrender to the dread pirate Westley”.
So, is it true? Can you seriously be intimidated by a bad guy if he has a nerdy name like Bernard?
Or how about physical anomalies? Years ago my boyfriend was yelling at me about something, and when he paused for breath I told him that I couldn’t take him seriously when he had spit in the corners of his mouth. He was completely derailed.
Is it just me, desperately looking for physical or other reasons to dismiss male intimidation? Or is there some validity to the name/appearance thing? What if the cowboy stalked up to the bar but instead of thudding menacingly in his boots, he scufffed up wearing raggedy old slippers? Intimidation factor goes way down right?
What do you think? Am I on to something here?