Hey, it's Sarah.
I hate it when someone says, "You look like a Sally, Annie, Kathy,..." In my mind, I'm the foremost Sarah. I think of myself as the pattern of Sarah's. When you here your name, don't you think of yourself? Other people here your name, and they might not think of you. If they know a person like you who has a different name, they will inevitably say the dreaded phrase. Personally, I think my name fits, but there's no collective labeling for proper names. Unlike a stapler, which must look and act like a stapler to have a collective label of stapler, names aren't given to people based on what they look like or how they act - most of the time. I realize there are nicknames such as Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, and Sneezy, but a formal name is given at birth when virtually nothing is known about the infant. A parent doesn't know how this child will grow up. Names are the perfect example for a word never meaning the same thing twice because there are never two people who are exactly the same.
I hope I got at least some of my point across.
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Sarah, for some reason I was recently thinking about names and was going to blog about it. (Weird...) Anyway...
One time I was talking to a college student who was majoring in Philosophy and he brought up the old, "What's in a name?" idea. If I tell you my name is Deirdre it gives you know hints as to who I may be. You could look at the original meanings of names and where they came from, but that doesn't give you information either. My name happens to be from and old Irish fairytale in which the heroine, Deirdre, has a life full of sorrow. My name, therefore, is believed to be derived from Old Gaelic, meaning sorrow. I hope, however, that in real life I am nothing like that.
My mother, who is standing behind me, just told me that she thinks people grow into their names. I don't want to grow into my name, but my mother apparently feels that I display characteristics unique to my name. How depressing!
I could tell you that my name represents my heritage, but I have met Deirdres that are definately not Irish, or even of European descent.
Today names can't even tell you what gender a person may be, much less give you any hints as to what he/she is like. It always bothers me when I mention my friend Vaughn and people assume she is a boy. I only know one Vaughn, so to me I associate the name as feminine.
Another thing that bothers me is when people scoff at others for "making up names" for their children. All names and words are made up. They are all just sounds. I recently read an article about a couple in China (I believe) who wanted to name their son "@." To Americans that may seem strange, but in Chinese it is very close to the symbol that means "love him." I think that's cute, but the Chinese government won't let them name there son @.
P.S. Sarah I think you're name fits you perfectly. You are a princess!
I completely agree with both of you! Apparently, my name is Scottish for John (meaning 'God's grace'). What I don't understand is why there is a 'Scottish' version of John- why is there any version of John besides the original? Any name is completely unique and independent of its supposed siblings- like Jaqcues, Juan, and Jon. Each may derive from the same root and each may claim to mean the same, but each does relate to something distinctive. For example, an American parent naming a child 'Juan' might want to imply that the child should hold Spanish values, or hope that the child will speak Spanish. My 'Scottish name' means barely anything to me because I am not- to my knowledge- a trace Scottish.
Hi, it's Jasmine.
Deirdre, your comment about the parents that wanted to name their son "@" was really interesting, because I know that "love him" in Chinese is "ai ta", which sounds like "at". I think that was a really creative idea but I guess that names have to be acceptable by society, just as words have to be agreed on by society. For example, how many ridiculous celebrity baby names have you heard? Apple, Pilot Inspektor, and Little Pixie are a few examples. But why do we label these names as "ridiculous"? A name doesn't have to follow any specific rules, but all of us know (based on experience) what a name is "supposed" to sound like.
And Sarah, I totally agree with you. A name is a great example of the infinite amount of meanings a word can have. The word "Sally" doesn't always make me think of the same person. At camp, "Sally" would be a totally different person than "Sally" at school. "Sally" could mean two different things even if it was referring to the same person, depending on how I felt about Sally at a particular moment.
Hey, it's Erin. I have to agree with you Sarah about the whole "you look like..." thing. Don't you always wonder "is that a good thing, or a bad thing..." Anyway...
Names are strange things. How'd we get them and how'd they get their meanings? The need for names is obvious, but how did the name come to be? Why do names have meanings? They probably do because first they were words and then someone named their child that and it became a name. I thought what Deirdre brought up was interesting. I think that in anything, going against the "norm" is what is considered weird (speaking of that, I can't wait for Monday...). So I guess that if someone named their kid "Stapler", we'd think it was weird because our association with the word stapler is an office supply, not a name for a child. I guess that's why the names Apple, etc, are considered weird.
I never really think of the meanings of names. They are, in a way, immaterial. You can't define a person (if you can even do that) with just one word, even less a baby whom you know nothing about. But names do have a certain kind of power. No one will ever name their kid a certain name if it is extremely negative. I remember in history class Dr. Bjornstad said that the reason the Spanish renamed the islands when they "discovered" America was because naming something is power. It becomes you're own. The power to define is extremely important.
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