What's In A Name?

I love names. Absolutely love them. And I have a ridiculous amount of fun naming things, myself included. When I was a child I gave nicknames to every member of my family; I don't remember the name I gave my mother, but my dad was Big Bird, my little brother was Oscar the Grouch, and I was Bambi (I didn't realize that Bambi was a boy deer and not a girl deer until I was much, much older). I also went through a short stage when I referred to my parents as Homer and Marge and my little brother as Bart.

My cars are named Biff and Spike. My unicycles are named Babar and Momma Bear. My PC's name is Klaus and my iPod's name is The Burninator. My rats (they make excellent pets, by the way) were named Cain, Dresden, and Salem. Our cat Rocky's full name is Rockstar Donatello, Charlie's full name is Charles Michaelangelo, and Sega's full name is - what else? - Sega Genesis.

I even named the little mouse that used to haunt this house when we first bought it, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was. (Edited to add: My husband just reminded me that the little guy's name was Algernon.)

Now I know what you're thinking. You're reading all of this and you're wondering if you should call Child Protective Services on me pre-emptively for the terrible names that my children are certainly doomed to have someday. You're thinking to yourself, "This woman shouldn't be allowed to name a text file, let alone a living being!"

I assure you, dear friends and readers, that one of the reasons I allow myself to have so much fun with names is because I actually take people's names very seriously. There are so many outlets that one can choose to express themselves, their identity, or their message to others on a daily basis: clothing, shoes, hair style or color, glasses, tattoos, piercings, bumper stickers, accessories, jewelry, makeup, the list goes on and on. You could say that these things are all superficial, and you wouldn't necessarily be wrong, but you have to admit that they are all ways that people use to communicate their priorities and passions to others.

A name, while being a form of expression (if not of the named, then at least of the namer), is of course not like a piece of clothing. It's not something you can take off tomorrow if you find that it doesn't suit you anymore. You can get your name changed, of course, but that takes work and a little bit of money, and I'm guessing that the vast majority of the population sticks with the name they were given at birth.

And that is why I take it so seriously. It is more powerful, more resistant to change, more personal. A name can go down in history, can be given in remembrance or honor, can even be revolted or scorned (how many little boys named Adolph do you see running around these days?). And it is something that my husband and I will have the privilege to give, and our children will be (more or less) stuck with our decisions. And they may love it or hate it, but I hope that they know that I did take their naming seriously, and I had hoped from the start that they would see the love and beauty in the names I gave them as much as I do.

Marcus and I have been brainstorming baby names lately (what's wrong with a little pre-emptive naming?), and so far we've come up a with a couple that we're pretty satisfied with. We've even come up with paired names for twins!

What are some of the names that most interest you? Do you love them or hate them?