On Names and Naming

There's an idea percolating in my brain. A story idea. Potentially a novel idea. But key to the idea is names and naming. (Beyond that, I'm not telling you the idea. You might steal it!!) I think Shakespeare is the most oft-quoted authority on names--"that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." And while I'm sure many people have had many other things to say about names, I'm too lazy to research those people right at this second.

My name means, more or less, 'pure.' (Although to be fair, my name is the diminutive version of a nickname of a name that actually means pure. Thus the 'more or less.') My younger sister's name means both 'pretty' and 'good.' So by definition, I suppose she's a pretty good younger sister. Or a pretty, good younger sister. Probably both.

What intrigues me most about names is this: we do not choose them for ourselves. Someone chooses them for us, and that someone sometimes has something specific in mind when they choose the name. Not always. As far as I know, my parents just liked most of our first names. But sometimes... it's why I don't envy people with family names.

And I really don't envy people who are named after virtues. Of course, I think the one guaranteed way to ensure I wouldn't live up to my name would be to assign me one like that. (Seriously, I think it's kind of mean to name your daughter Patience. Or Faith. Or Charity. People will call you on your name...both on whether you act your name and on whether you don't.)

Anyway, it's a system set up to favor parents. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Clearly, newborn babies aren't exactly equipped to name themselves. They aren't physiologically or psychologically capable of saying, "Hey, Mom. Please do not name me Prudence after your favorite great-aunt. Name me Michelle instead." But I often wonder what name I might choose for myself if I had the option. I've never minded being a Katie, but would I have opted instead to be a Lizzy or an Emma or...some other name that doesn't stem from a Jane Austen novel?

I firmly believe that we choose the significance of our own lives: we choose how to spend our time, we choose our own pursuits, we choose the company we keep. We choose where we go and what we do, but we don't choose what we're called. Our names do not determine our lives; I'd never make such a far-fetched claim. But I wonder, based on my life to date, if I wouldn't change the meaning of my name to better match the significance I hope my life will have...