What's in a name?

What's in a name?

Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?...What's in a name? That which you call a rose 🌹  by any other name would smell as sweet!

This is how Juliet begins the famous balcony scene in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. I had the chance to re-read this scene recently and it got me a-thinking. What is in a name? Why is it so important?

Very simply, I think most of us would agree that your name identifies you. In some way it defines who you are. When people say "Kristen", I turn around. Someone's calling me, I think. I hear my name and immediately identify it as "me".

But is your name really be you? Some people may be called after their grandfather or grandmother, or a great personage such as Ghandi or Martin Luther (either the founder of Lutherism or the author of "I have a Dream"). Then people say: "You have to live up to your namesake," as if in the passing of the name some quality of the person passes on as well. But Ghandi was Ghandi, and Martin Luther King was Martin Luther King. I can't imagine being held to some high expectation because of a name, in particular if that ability just isn't part of your make-up.

Some people change their names, or prefer to use their middle names. This means the name that they were "given" just doesn't resonate with them for some reason, so they try to find another definition for themselves. 

You may be used to calling someone something for years, and then all of a sudden, they want their nickname to be changed. It's like they don't identify with that part of themselves anymore, or maybe they never did.

From what I read about some Native American cultures, they would wait to name a child until some significant event happened in their lives. For example, in the movie "Dancing with Wolves", the main character gets his name after the Sioux observe him and a wolf chasing each other. I have often thought that I would like to have been named after something that truly characterized me happened. Then, my name would really be part of me, wrapped up intrinsically with life.

I suppose the real question is, if I were named something else, would I be a different person? Like, if I were called Bonnie or Barbara, would I feel more or less myself? If I had grown up with a different name, would I still be the same?

What do you think? Do you feel like your name fits you? Have you ever wanted to change it?

Text: Kristen Mastromarchi

Photo: Teahub