I’ve learned that there’s more to a name than merely a name. For example, at the Blue Letter Bible site, they say: “In the Old Testament times, a name was not only identification, but an identity as well. Many times a special meaning was attached to the name. Names had, among other purposes, an explanatory purpose…” Which led me to… have you ever looked up the meaning of your name? And… does it describe you?
While completing that task is far from mandatory, it is interesting. The question that emerges is… since you didn’t name yourself, that it was by your parents, have you ever talked with them about what made them choose your name? Perhaps you were named after an ancestor, or maybe it was the current fad or a ‘celebrity’ name. Maybe you were named after a famous person or maybe you were named after one of your parents. Regardless, do you believe your name ‘fits’ you? Do you ‘like’ your name?
Today, if you are interested, all you need do is to ‘bing’ or ‘google’ on a site developed to give you the meaning of names… determined by ‘experts’. You can check along many dimensions such as meaning, national origin (on one site for the letter ‘A’ alone there were 66 pages of names). However this approach does have its limitations since my name is listed 3 times with 3 different national origins. Still, it does provide us with some information. Your name does mean something… even if only to distinguish you from others. Even people with the same first name typically have a middle or last name that sets them apart.
Let me give a personal example: while ‘Caroline’ is a very nice name – it just isn’t mine and I tend to, somewhat tersely, correct anyone who refers to me by that pronunciation. Why? 1- it’s not my name and, equally important, 2- I got teased as a child by someone who was attempting to bully me and used that name. Silly? Unimportant? Very possibly. While others may not claim such a intense reaction to their name… still, it is important. Sooo… is your name your identity? When others mention your name is there a match between how they are saying and reacting to your name and who you know yourself to be? Is it important to you?
…but, what do you think?
