My name is not Kevin

For reason I do not fully understand, when some people read or hear my name -- "Kenneth" -- what they remember is the name "Kevin". It's bizarre, and it's been happening since at least high school (when I first became aware of the phenomenon). It happens in casual conversation, it happens in cover letters people send me for jobs and it happens when folks e-mail me at work. And when it happens, people are often steadfast in believing that somewhere, somehow, there really is a Kevin running around in my office, as though I have a similarly named clone running around doing my work for me (and mind you, up until recently, my work office was a one-man show -- there couldn't be anyone else here).

Why does this happen? I'm not sure. "Kevin" is certainly a more common name than "Kenneth", at least in New Jersey, and perhaps some people just default to the name that they're used to. The names sound somewhat similar, both beginning with a strong "K" sound, and while I think the full name's sound dissimilar, the "Kev" and "Ken" shorthands are pretty close. I am, however, admittedly close to the source here, so I'd be interested in hearing other people's theories on the mix up.