Remembering people's names is an important part of our modern society
. You can't just walk up to someone you've met before and say "Hey, you" or something equally nondescript. It's expected of you to remember their name and use it. Even more so if it's part of your job - for instance, if you're facing a class of students on a daily basis.
So, how can you start to remember names easily?
Stay alert
Our minds are good at going off in a multitude of different directions. Make sure that you stay alert when someone tells you their name and make an effort to commit the new information to your long term memory.
Do some revision
We don't expect to remember anything much on our first encounter with it. So why should remembering a name be any different? Create some kind of routine where you can revise people's names and faces until you instinctively know their name without being prompted. Whatever works best for you - most people find sites like Facebook good for this, sometimes Twitter if the people you mix with are in the habit of adding their face to their page. Make sure that your skill at remembering names improves over time with this kind of easy revision.
Eat right
Some foods work better than others to help aid your memory. Fish is generally accepted as being a "brain food" but there are plenty of others you can find. You may also find that a vitamin supplement helps to keep you on track with remembering people's names.