What's in a name?

Names and labels are interesting things. More often than not, they’re how people assign and evaluate the values of things. But why do we do this?

The most fundamental label is a name. Our family names give us a sense of belonging. They prove that we belong to a certain bloodline and provide a link to something greater than ourselves. First names and nicknames are how we differentiate ourselves from others. Names as a label come to be how we’re known. Names become associated with an image, they become associated with feelings, and they become associated with experiences. On top of names, there are labels. Friend, best friend, boyfriend, girlfriend, goth, emo, prude, snob, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, man, woman – all these labels bring about images as well.

I’ve gone by a lot of names in my life. My given name, countless nicknames, gaming handles that I’ve picked, all of them associate me to the people who know me by these names. They can make me seems serious, or silly, or caring, or cold. They can be meant to make me seem more professional, they can be meant to make me seem friendly, they can be meant to make me seem like a complete badass. At the same time, I’ve never really cared what name people know me by. I just figure that once people know me, regardless of the name they know me by, my character will speak for itself and come out over whatever image is attached to the name being used.

This does raise an interesting question though. Without a name, do we cease to exist? I don’t mean this in the sense that without a name, you’ll disappear into nothing. Rather, if you were dropped into a place where absolutely no one knew your name, how would people see you? Would they even see you? Names and labels are extremely powerful. Once you know someone’s name, they suddenly become more important to you. You care about them more – you become attached. It’s really a weird thing, the idea that a name is something so personal that simply knowing it can completely change how you see things.

So what’s in a name? Just as we shouldn’t judge people by their outward appearances, to judge people based on names or labels is just as wrong. Sure, there may be a good reason why a person has earned a certain name or label, but instead of using that as a starting point and going from there, rather just keep it in mind as something to remember, and in the meantime form your own opinions and judgments about a person.

I’ll close this entry with a quote that most people know from Shakespeare:

“What's in a name? that which we call a rose/By any other name would smell as sweet.”