What is In a Name, How Did You Get Your Name?
66
Do you remember the lament of Juliet (William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet ):
"What's in a name? That
which we call a rose
By any other name would smell
as sweet."
Would any other name really smell as sweet? Maybe yes, maybe no, what do you think?
Names are our identifying windows to the world. Our names are our brand or logo in other words. So it is fascinating to find out why you got your name. There is always a story behind it.
Do you know why you are so named? Does your name have a special meaning or is it just based on your parents' whim?
How Did You Get Your Name?
I
discovered several reasons why people are so named. If the reason for your name
is not in the following list, then please add it here. I would like to hear
from you.
Here are some reasons I gathered why you are given a certain name:
Religious
- Your name is based on the saint's feast day on the calendar. This is especially true for those who are Roman Catholics. For example if your birthday is today, you might have the name "Betilla" because it is St. Betilla's feast day today (Oct 20).
- According to a friend, “the common practice in India has been to open the holy book, Gita, Bible or Quran and the first letter on that page provides the lead to choose the name of the child. In case the birth of the child is delayed for any reason, the names like Faqir (beggar) or Garib (poor) or Allah Ditta (God Given) are chosen as first and middle name”.
Genealogy
- You are the junior of your parents. So you are John, Jr., or Marian, Jr. I had a classmate in college whose name and those of his siblings are: Reginald, Jr, Reginald II, Reginald III, and Reginald IV. Apparently the family either wanted to have their “brand” or are just lazy to look for another name.
- Your name is a combination of your parents' or grandparents' names. So it might be "Jonel", a combination of Jonathan and Elizabeth, or "Jumila", combination of Justo and Milagros or “Miranella”, combination of the grandparents Miranda, Ramon, Nelson and Lagrima.
- Your name is the diminutive form of your parents’ or a favourite relative’s name. So if your father’s name is Jose, then your name must be Joselito or if your mother’s name is Paula, then your name must be Pauline or Paulette.
- All the names in your family start with the letters of your parents names. All the boys follow the father's name or the girls the mother's or it can be the other way around.
So if your parents names are Peter and Mary, then maybe your names are: Paul, Pedro, and Pistachio; or Martha, Maritess, and Marilyn; or Patricia, Peggy and Paula; or Mario, Maximo, and Medardo
- You are the son of Sam, so your name is Samson or Williamson if you are the son of William.
Starstruck Parents
- Your name is based on the favorite actor or actress/author/singer/idol/player of your parents. So for example, you might be named Harry (Potter) or Charice (Pempengco) or Angelina (Jolie) or Barbra (Streisand) or Rafael (Nadal).
- Your name is a combination of your parents’ favourite characters or saints or stars. So your name is “John Martin”, a combination of John Kennedy and Martin Luther King or “Marie Charles” a combination of Marie Curie and Charles Darwin.
Better Future
Your parents hope that you will turn out to be the next scientist or world leader or philosopher so you are given the name "Einstein" or “Galileo” or "Indira" or "Corazon" or "Descartes"
Proverbs 22:1
“A good
name is more desirable than great riches;
to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.”
Significant Date or Day
- You are born on a significant date or day, so your name is "Millenium" or "Ondoy" (typhoon here in the Philippines) or "Katrina" (hurricane in the USA)
By the Month or Day
· You are born on a specific day of the week or month of year, so your name is "May" or "Tuesday" or "January" or “Friday”
Cultural
- You have American Indian parentage
and according to myth (or practice), your name is the first thing that
your mother saw after giving birth to you. So your name is “Morning Star”
or “Mountain Horse”.
I have researched on this and according to some this is partly true, while others say that this story is just a set up for a joke. However, it is really true that American Indian names are almost always based on nature like “Silver Cloud” or “Laughing Brook”.
- You are from Bali and you are named according to your system of names which uses only 4 names (and their variations) based on the order of birth. So your name is “Wokalayan” (or its variation) if you are 1st born, “Made” if 2nd, “Nyoman” if 3rd, and “Ketut” if 4th in line. If you are a 5th child however, then you will be “Wokalayan Balik”. “Balik” means return or again.
By Profession
Your parents use names from their profession. I actually have a friend whose name was Beta and her siblings are Alpha and Gamma. One parent (I forgot which one) is a physicist.
I had a professor in college who named some of his children with the scientific names of some plants/animals. One daughter has the name of Eimeria (scientific name of a protozoan)
By Location
- According to stories, people in the Philippines used to have only one name. When the Spaniards came, we were baptized and given a second name or surname. For easier identification, the beginning letters of the surname was based on location.
So those coming from a certain place had names beginning with a specific letter like “M” or “O”, etc. I still remember being told that somebody comes from “Dao” for example because his surname is De Leon.
- Some English names tell of the location, like “Lancaster” or “Burroughs”.
By Fancy
- Your parents stayed in some foreign country or studied some foreign language and they fell in love with some of the foreign sounding names like: Keira (Irish), Maganda (Pilipino), Aiko (Japanese), Celio (Portugese)
By the Numbers
- Your parents consulted numerology or the horoscope so your name must exhibit a certain vibration or must sum up to a specific number, etc.
So your name is "John Paul Castro" which comes up to the number 11. Number 11 is characterized by high spirituality, intuition, etc.http://www.paulsadowski.com/numbers.asp
By Laziness
· Your parents were hoping for a baby girl or boy so they prepared only for girls' or boys' names. Then you turned out to be of the opposite sex (this was before the advent of ultrasound) and your parents did not bother to find another name but just changed the sex of the name. So your name was originally "Teresita" but you turn out to be a boy, so now you are named "Teresito"
Reasons, Reasons, Reasons
Those listed above are just some of the reasons I gathered why you are given a specific name. If you know of other reasons, please add them here in the comments. Thank you!
What is In a Name?
This is a handed down joke:
A man angrily stopped his car and got off when it was accidently hit by a stone thrown by a boy playing on the sidewalk. He asked for the boy’s name and the boy answered in fear, “Joking”.
Man: “I’m asking for your name, not for the reason why you threw the stone!”
The man repeated his question, “what is your name?”
Boy: “Joking, my name is Joking.”
Man: “You must be kidding!”
Boy: “No, that’s the name of my other brother”!
====================
I wish to invite you once again to please share how you or somebody you know got his/her name. Thank you!
====================
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Some References and Articles About Names
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/get_started/surnames_01.shtml This is written by Paul Blake, a professional genealogy and local-history lecturer.
http://www.suite101.com/content/authentic-native-indian-naming-ceremonies-a274933
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balinese_name
http://visitpinas.com/a-rhose-by-any-other-name This article is written by an ex-pat about the humor in Philippine names
CommentsLoading...
I was named Michelle because I was born during the Beatles era. When I looked at the meaning of my name it said, "who is like God." Hmmmmm... I don't know what to make of that. LOL
My mother was star struck. Nice hub
Hi Carrie,
Nice to see you again!
So you got a star struck mom when you were given your name. That's usually one of the major reasons why we got our name. Great!
Thanks for the visit and nice comment!
God bless!
Hi Michele,
That's great! I also know another Michele who was named for the same reason! The Beatles really had a big influence then.
Well, maybe that's your guide in life - to be God-like. Aren't you doing exactly that by sharing happiness through ripples?
Thanks for dropping by and leaving a lovely comment!
God bless!
Hi dashingclaire,
Having starstruck parents is one of the major reasons why we got our name. So you are part of the list then!
Thanks very much for the visit and lovely comment!
God bless!
Well I don't know the reason for my name... but, my son who just turned one recently was named Maxamillion because my husband got a vasectomy and we realized it failed when I got pregnant. Therefore, he is our one in a million little man (hence the spelling)
Hi there barbergirl,
That's a very interesting story for a name! That means your son is really a gift and you are right in giving him the name, Maxamillion!
Thanks for sharing!
God bless!
I am not to sure how and why I am so named Rodney, it is not a family name. But I have a sneaking feeling that it was named after a battleship from WWII, HMS RODNEY.
But having said this I have discovered (through various searches) that I am not the only Rodney Fagan, but have several of us scattered around the world, some famous in there fields and a lot just plain ordinary folk.
The meaning of my name is "Famous" - that remains to be seen (in my case).
Hi Rodney,
Great to see you!
Did your parents ever mention any reference to HMS Rodney?
Wow, several of you in the world? Have you tried contacting anyone of them at all? They might have some interesting story to tell.
Well, I think you are famous in your own way!
Thanks for dropping by and sharing your story!
God bless!
No they did not, but they said that they did not want a family name, as a first name.
As to how I do know there is more of me around(name wise.
I had to prove to an Aunt who had sent her nephew an email on hotmail, that I was not a fellow scientest or researcher fooling around. He was Rodney_Fagan on hotmail, and I did not have the underscore, or something like that it was before 9/11 in any way, they origiated in Canada.
Lost contact with them unfortunately.
So there we have it, also if you do a search looking for me you will see quite a few, including him and me I think.
Blessings to You
Hi Rodney,
Thanks for coming back!
Thanks for sharing your story too. That is most interesting.
I'm happy I have never encountered anybody with the same name as myself. I have had 3 students with the same names though. However, I encountered them at different times and not in the same class. That would have been weird if that happened.
Thanks again!
God bless!
Very interesting idea. Most of us do not even bother to know the origin of the name. When we have this concern we find many surprises. Thanks. :)
I love the joke. I agree names carry significance. In the Chinese culture, each character has a meaning. For example, my Chinese name means "plum blossom." Thanks for the interesting read and if you want to know why I insist on calling you Jill--I've my reasons. Rated useful.
Hello Rui,
Thanks very much!
Really? My children always like hearing the story of how they got their names especially when they were little kids.
Yes, there sure are plenty of surprises when we discover how people got their names.
Thanks for the visit and lovely comment! See you around.
God bless!
Hi Anglnwu,
Thanks! Yes,I love the joke too. I heard that when I was still in high school and it remained in my memory!
Yes, I read and heard about Chinese names. My husband's family and relatives have both their baptismal names as well as Chinese names.
Thanks for the visit and wonderful comment my friend, Plum Blossom! I like that! I think it fits you.
Hahaha, you can go on calling me Jill. I am already used to it.
God bless!
Beautiful Tpoic and beautiful executed hub. I simply love your passion for everyday simplicity that the rest of us seem to bypass un noticed:)Thanks for making me see the beauty in things around me.
Hello kids-toy-box,
You make me very happy with your comment! What else can I say but, thank you very much!
Hope to see you again.
God bless!
Great Hub jill I have a history of names, which keeps life interesting, LOL! I was named Ellen at birth after my Grandmother who's name was Elsie. Back then, Elsie was way too old fashion for modern girls or it called up images of Borden Milk's iconic cow. When I began an acting career in my early 20's, a good friend re-named me Hillary, an uncommon name at the time. Now I'm getting used to GL!
I have a great story about how I came to be named "Tig". My parents had a school teacher named Tig, she was very pretty and popular. After my mother gave birth, a nurse came in to see her and asked where she had gotten my name. When my mother told her, she said "that's my daughter!"
Since I was born in 1970, my mother spent a week in the hospital and while there, another woman came in and asked my mother if she would trade babies with her (true story). She had had a son on the same day I was born and couldn't have any more children so since my mother was 16 she thought she could have plenty more opportunities to have children and literally wanted to trade babies. Well, that was a no! Crazy but true!!
Hi Green Lotus,
Thanks very much!
So you are one of those with many names! Nice story! I guess it's similar to what happens to some nuns and priests. They acquire a different name after they reach a certain stage of their formation.
Thanks for sharing your story GL!
God bless!
Hello Tig,
Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment.
That's an interesting story! First how you got your name and second how you almost got traded! You are right, the 2nd one is a crazy story. I thought this only happens in the movies!
Thanks for sharing your story!
God bless!
Hi, jill of alltrades! I got my real name as my older brother fell in love with girl with the same name. He was only 6 years old but asked my parents to give me this name :)
Great hub Jill of trades, My first name Laura had no bearing but my middle name Mary was because my father and mother had a close relationship to mother Mary. Interesting hub.
Hi Arlecchino,
You have such a unique name. Your elder brother sure knows how to pick one for you. Does it have a special meaning?
Thanks for much for dropping by and sharing this lovely story.
God bless!
Hello Laura,
Both your first and middle names are lovely! Now I understand why you are using "Healing Touch" as your user name here.
Thank you very much for sharing your name's story.
God bless!
Hi, good information about the origin of names. My grandfather chose my name. The Nun in my highschool said my name means beautiful melody.
Great hub--and great comments, too! I was named Caroline after many generations of women on my maternal grandmother's side who had been named Karoline in Germany. My mother, who was born here during WWII, was the only one not given that name. Her parents gave her and her brothers (all born during WWII) completely standard US names: Ruth, Robert and Ronald.
Hi Ipeoney,
Your name not only means beautiful melody, it sounds like one!
Thanks for visiting and leaving a lovely comment.
God bless!
Hi Caroline,
Wow, so your name belongs to the genealogy reason. Thanks for sharing your story with us.
Thank you too for dropping by. Hope to see you again.
God bless!
Great Hub! My name is Annette and since I was born in the 60's I was named after the actress Annette Funicello. How fun!!!
Hi Mavy,
What a nice story how you got your name! So your story belongs to the genealogy reason. That's great!
Thank you for sharing this with us. Thanks too for the visit.
See you around!
God bless!
Hello Craftdrawer,
Thanks very much for sharing your story! So your name belongs to the "star struck" reason. Fun!
I also have a friend named Annette. I never asked her how she got her name but I have a suspicion that you might share the same reason.
Thanks for the visit and lovely story!
God bless!
Great topic hub:0 Fun to read, get some good feedback on here! I know people who have given names, based on a romance novel...these were unusual distinct names:)
Hello heart4theword,
Thanks very much! Yes,the feedback is really interesting. I am getting more stories this way. Later, I will probably revise and add the other reasons.
Oh yes, I forgot to mention that, my sister's name is based on the heroine of a novel my mom and I were reading at the time of her birth.
Thanks for the visit and lovely comment.
God bless!
Very nice hub. My name is just Jan without any special meaning or hidden purpose; my parents were never known as creative types. It has served me well nonetheless I suppose. By the way, would you happen to know if Jan is a name of Nordic descent? I've always sort of thought that it was but never looked it up. Anyway, keep up the good work!
lovely hub, and so true, mine was simply because my parents wanted an "r" and something which was more2 syllables... so there you have it. Great hub!
Hello Jan,
Thanks for sharing your story.
As far as I know, Jan has either Slovakian, Scandinavian, Danish, or German descent. So I suppose it is also Nordic. It is supposed to be a shorter version for Johannes. However, it also has Medieval English origin as it is short of Janet or Janice.
Thanks for dropping by!
See you around!
God bless!
Hello Rebecca,
It's so nice to see you again!
Thank you very much for sharing your story about your name. There are really many who got their names for the same reason - their parents just wanted the names to start with a specific letter.
Thanks for dropping by.
God bless!
We did name our sons Biblical names, so I suppose you could choose Religion as the reason, but it is more complex than that. We chose the names because of their meanings, and because of a deep sense that names are prophetic of or reflective of the child and what he will become.
The way we chose our older son's name is this (you might find it interesting): We took a name book with 10,000 names, and went through it separately- me on one night, my husband on another. Individually and without communicating, we each wrote down any names of interest on two separate sheets of paper, one for boys, and one for girls. We included the meaning with each name we wrote down. When we had finished, we had four sheets of paper. Then we read each other's sheets, and circled the names that either already appeared on our own sheets, or that we also appreciated. After we finished circling, there were only a couple of names to choose from. We rewrote them in two columns- one column for first names, another for middle names. Then we narrowed them down by meaning. We chose the name Elijah for our son, not so much because of its denotative meaning, "The Lord is God," but because of its connotative meaning to us, which is a sense of fieriness. Our unborn child never stopped moving, so not knowing the gender, we chose either Elijah, for the story of fire from heaven and the sense of a fiery child, or Vivian, meaning lively and derivative of Eve.
Hi Kotori,
Wow! What an interesting story about your child's name. It sure is religious in nature but much more! So is your child finally Elijah or Vivian?
Thank you very much for sharing this story. It sure gave more depth to the religious reason.
God bless!
Can anybody tell me what Rakuba means in your language?
Jill of alltrades, Wonderful & interesting hub! You are so Creative!
I was named after Deborah in the Bible, who is the only woman Judge! My parents prayed for a daughter and I was born amidst a host of all brothers... Hmmm no wonder I Love the Lord so much!
Thank you for sharing, In HIS Love,Joy, Peace & Blessings!
Interesting hub - I was named after a girl's name in a song that my mother liked, I did not have much say in the matter :).
Hi Rakuba,
I'm sorry I don't know what Rakuba means. I don't think we even have it in our language (Pilipino). It sounds Japanese but I could not find it among the Japanese names I encountered.
Thanks for dropping by!
God bless!
Thanks so much! In japanese my name means something like Paradise, but it can have different meanings, depending what letters to use.
Hi DeBorrah,
It's nice to see you!
Thanks very much for sharing your name story. It must be interesting being the only female among all the boys in the family. You are really blessed!
See you around!
God bless!
Hi 2uesday,
Oh, what song is that?
Well, I don't think any of us has any say on what name we get, :)! Oh, maybe there are exceptions like we only got baptized when we were older?
Thanks for the visit andf the lovely comment!
God bless!
This is such a good hub! Fun and so interesting to read each comment. My mother had a best friend when she was around 17 or so and they would babysit a little girl named Audrey June. I was named after that little girl.
Funny, that is also my mothers name. I never liked my name until a couple of years ago. Now, I love it!
Hi rakuba,
Thanks very much for coming back.
Oh, your name has a beautiful meaning! Thanks for sharing.
See you around!
God bless!
Hi Audrey,
You got a nice name! Thanks for sharing the story behind it.
I also know of somebody who at first did not like her name but eventually changed her mind especially after she learned of the story behind the name.
Thanks for dropping by. Hope to see you again.
God bless!
Let me say this for the 100th time
YOU ROCK ! =) And I loveeeee your hubs
you are so great at this and always so inspiring
x
Very interesting and enjoyable Hub. Makes me want to follow you and read more!
I loved your hub jillofalltrades Lovely and so fun to read.(some names are too much, the poor kiddo!!)
You are a lady gaga for sure, one of a kind. Love you. Come over for a visit when you get a chance. Love n Hugs
I enjoyed your excellent Hub. Thank you for a good read. I was named after my father. He lived the first three years of his life without a name—I'm serious!
Hi Leptirela,
It's so nice to see you again!
Wow!!! You just floored me! Thank you very much for your upbeat comment!
You rock too!
God bless!
Hello b. Malin,
Thank you very much for your inspiring comment!
I will be honored if you will follow me indeed. I'm sure you are also an interesting person to follow. I'll do that after I post this.
Hope to see you again.
God bless!
Hi Skye,
Your bubbly spirit makes me smile!
Thank you very much for your upbeat comment. You are so good for my ego! I will visit you for sure.
God bless!
Hello James,
It's great to see you again!
Wow, I can hardly believe your story about your father! It's the first time I heard such story! So how was he called during those 3 years then? I'm interested!
Thanks for the visit and story!
God bless!
Interesting hub and fun comments to read. :) I was never especially fond of my name, so I asked my parents once why they chose that name. They didn't really have an answer other than going through the books and it striking them, but my father said, "well, I was going to name you GiGi, but your mother wouldn't let me" He was kidding, of course, however, at the time I thought GiGi would have been so much more unique.
My oldest daughter has a name that I chose when I was 16 and it stayed in my heart till the day she was born. I was a teenage ballet instructor and in my very first class I had a student with that name which struck me as so beautiful that I tucked it away making a vow to name my first daughter that. (Cara)
My husband named picked the name for our second daughter. I wanted Erin, to keep with an Irish theme and he wanted to keep with the 'C' theme but did not want anything too ordinary. He chose Christa and we have two beautiful daughters. My oldest's middle name came from my mothers middle name and my youngest has mine. Nice hub.
Hi Denise,
You got a nice name. I know two ladies named Denise. I believe it has a French origin and is the variation of Denisse, or Denni or Denesse and several others.
I would have fallen in love the the name "Cara" too.
Thanks very much for visiting and sharing your lovely story.
God bless!
Most people took to calling him Bobby, for unknown reasons. Then when he was three, his mom decided to name him James. It is an odd story.
Hi James,
Thanks for coming back and answering my question. You are right, it really is an odd story. I don't know if it will be considered an item for the book of Guinness. Hmmm, maybe I should research on that.
Thanks for sharing James!
God bless!
jillofalltrades,
hey i'm one of "those" too! LOl
great name
THANKYOU SO MUCH! for that awesome fan mail! Wow what a sweet compliment -"prolific writer" :) You made my day :)
This is a great hub, simple and complex at the same time. I love Lady Gaga's name I heard she picked GaGa after Queen's song Radio Gaga..I love Queen.
My name is Rose btw ;)
Thanks
Hello Rose,
You got a lovely name!
Well, you are a prolific writer. Just 6 months here and you already have 50 hubs!
Thanks for your wonderful comment!
Hope to see you again.
God bless!
Now that's what I call a following, it's good to catch up with you Jill. I love my name, so many don't love theirs so I feel lucky.
Hi Katy,
That's great! You are lucky indeed! I also know of some people who don't like their name.
Thanks very much for visiting and leaving an upbeat comment!
God bless!
Hi, jill. Lovely hub!
My first name was given me for two of my aunties, my second was just for me - and I have always been called my middle name in the family. My firstborn sister was named for our mother's mother (first name) and our mother's middle name(second name). My younger sister was named for a dear family friend. Her middle name is a variant of my mother's middle name.
Interestingly, though we were always only called by one name, we always knew when we were in trouble because we would be summoned by both our names.
Hi RedElf,
It's great to see you again!
Thanks for dropping by and sharing your name story.
Hahaha, I also have a similar experience as you when I was a kid. The moment my mom called me by my full name instead of nickname, I knew I was in trouble! So for a long time, I did not like my full name at all.
Thanks again for your visit.
God bless!
"people's fates are simplified by their names".. lol.. awesome hub.. i loved it :)
Hello eshwar,
Thank you very much for dropping by and leaving a wonderful comment.
God bless!
Hi Jill of Alltrades,
This was a cool, informative hub. I've always been fascinated by where names come from.
Mine is Gail which means joy and my mother told me she gave me that name because she believed I was going to bring great joy into her life.
Thanks for sharing this hub.
Hello Happyboomernurse,
Nice to see you!
Thank you very much for sharing your name story. I'm sure your mother is right in giving you your name! You not only bring joy to her but to me also with your beautiful comment!
God bless!
Great hub! Names are so personal. We need to be sensitive when pronouncing them -- especially with children. My name is not really Sally . . . but I'm going to look around to see what it means (if anything).
Hi Truckstop Sally,
Thanks for stopping by.
You are right, we really must be careful in pronouncing names. When I was still teaching, I would always ask a student how her/his name is pronounced if I am not sure.
I think Sally is a variant of Sarah which means "princess".
God bless!
I am fascinated by names too Jill. I was named after one of Michael Jackson's less than stellar movies, "Ben" about, of all things, a rat. It was the first movie date my parents had.
Love the Teddy Roosevelt quote, so true!
Ben
Hi Ben,
It's nice to see you!
Oh, I saw that movie and I even love the song!
Thanks for your wonderful comment.
God bless!
carrie450 19 months ago
Mine is listed jill of alltrades. My mother named me after Carole Lombard, actress but omitted the e at the end of Carol. Interesting hub.