Our Names Speak Of The People Who Gave It To Us

The name is the first brand that is printed, especially human. It is a word and, as such, it carries with it a series of meanings and a long chain of associations. Furthermore, the name usually carries an implicit intention of the giver, partly conscious, partly unconscious.

Almost always the name is given by others, it is not chosen. And almost always there is also a story behind why you were given that name and not another : that was your grandfather’s name, or those names were in fashion. Your mom thought it was a cute way of naming you or your dad thought it was a proper name for famous people.

Your name can also be a tribute to a deceased person, or to some figure that your parents admire. They may even have given you a name to compete with their friends, or to impact those around them, or to pay homage to a saint or God. There are plenty of reasons, at least for the one who names you.

The truth is that with those associations, those meanings and those intentions, they also delineate a part of your destiny. They sow or take away an expectation on you. They also give you a subtle command about the kind of person they expect you to be. Naming someone is equivalent to giving them a place in a worldview.

The functions of the name

The name of a person has three basic functions: it identifies them, places them within a certain culture and suggests a life project. Identify why it is what is usually going to differentiate you from the rest in a shared context, for which you are going to answer. It inscribes you in a culture in the first place by the origin and understanding of that name, by those who are in your environment; secondly by your last name: tell which family you belong to.

The name also suggests a life project, due to the expectations, fantasies and motivations that your parents or the adults who named you had. By giving you a name they are also making something of a bet on your destiny. What they feel and what they think at the time you were born is reflected in the way they name you.

Likewise, although those who name you may not know it, most names have their own etymology and, therefore, their meaning. This meaning could be located within what we call “collective unconscious”. It is something that society manages, but explicit. Thus, it also ends up delineating the meaning of that life to which a name was given.

Name determinations

The more common a name is, the less constraints it will oppose on who bears it. On the contrary, when it comes to a far-fetched, foreign, strange or even ridiculous name, its influence will be much greater. The same happens when the name of a dead person is carried, or when the name of another person in the family is carried: the father, the mother, or someone close to them.

In the case of exotic names, they usually denote strong fantasies of the parents. They want to stand out through their children. They know that others will have difficulties or feel strange when it comes to naming their children, but that is precisely what they seek: to attract the attention of others, to put a stamp of differentiation.

There are names so rare or so far-fetched that they end up being ridiculous. It is usual that they are the result of ignorance or alienation of the parents. It is known that in Ecuador several children bear the name “Eveready”. In Colombia a person with the name “Usnavy” appeared, because his father, a military man who went to war in Korea, had seen that word printed on a United States ship.

In all these cases, the name induces to be in a certain way. Sometimes it leads to subtle disagreements or outright rejections. Something of our destiny is being played in that name that was given to us without permission and which most of us have become more fond of over the years. Perhaps because we are making it more tailored to us, more ours.

Images courtesy Chain Ready, Mark Orloff