What’s in a Name?

By admin

Thanks to Jennifer of LA for sending this joke.

Raoul’s 2 Cents. July 31, 2026

What’s in a Name?

I had to fill out a waiver form at the Red Cross before I was allowed to donate my blood. There was a question about my gender. Was I male, female or would I rather not say? If I had the option not to say, then why ask it in the first place? When will we get over this silly interpersonal questioning? I was also asked about my choice of pronouns. I wonder if this inspired Hamlet’s “To be or not to be?” retrospective. These questions opened the rabbit hole to the fascinating world of names.

Do you like your name? Don’t be too hard on your parents if you don’t. Naming a person can be very confusing and challenging. I think first time parents over-think naming their child. They buy books about the history of names and consult hundreds of people who really don’t care what these parents name their kid. If they had a choice, parents don’t usually want a common name. Hate to break it to you, but if you do have a common name, you’re probably not the first kid. You’re just an “after-thought.” (Suck it up, butter cup!) Imagine a crowd of people and you shout a common name and half of the people respond to your call — all of them probably NOT the first born either.

Of course, most kids are named after their parent’s most favorite person in the world. Like Abraham (Lincoln) or (Queen) Elizabeth … good Christian names. But if you’re named after your father or mother, your parents didn’t lack creativity — you were just an “after-thought” as well.

Speaking of creativity, I know of two Chinese parents (last name is Pe) who were a little too creative. They named their son Edgar Allen. Poor kid. In the Philippines, many family members share the same first letters. I know of a family with 10 kids — all their names start with “R.” The parents constantly rattle off several names before they remember the right name.

One of my earliest battles for recognition had to do with my baby name. They called me Peewee. Whoever started it should be tarred and feathered! I heard one reason was because I was too darn cute — tiny eyes, big puffy veined cheeks and a disarming smile. I guess I looked like a pot bellied baby Buddha. But when I grew taller than my parents and they still called me Peewee; well that was pretty humiliating. I remember demanding I be called by my proper name and I refused to be called Junior. Yeah, you guessed it — I wasn’t the first born. I too am an “after thought.”

During the old days, a family’s trade was passed on to the children. The local blacksmith was named Mister Blacksmith. The baker was Mister Baker and all of his kids were destined to be bakers. Even Jesus was known as the carpenter’s son. But I doubt his last name was Carpenter – Jesus H. Carpenter – nah! That doesn’t sound right. And I doubt his brother was named Richard who played the piano and a sister named Karen who sang. In poor countries I think this line of name choice is still being practiced but they may be transitioning due to exogamy (marriages outside the family/lineage). For instance, I have a friend whose father ran a candy factory. No, he wasn’t Willie Wonka and neither was my friend’s name Candy. His name is Shoemaker and he’s a musician. Hard to put his face with his name.

Isn’t it strange that there isn’t a Miss Real Estate? Aren’t you glad there isn’t a Doctor Epidemiologist nor a Professor Microscopist … Oh, but isn’t there a Mister Hannibal the cannibal? And how many McDonalds are out there to remind you of hamburgers?

What if we get rid of pronouns altogether and just address people by their full names … would that simplify this branding problem? The South Koreans do it all the time (at least that’s what I read in the closed captions of their movies) — they always address each other by their full names. It could be worse. How would you like to be a Smith? … a Mister John Smith? If that’s your name, you must feel pretty anonymous: “Hey look it’s John Smith!” And everybody would look around and you’re right in the middle and nobody even sees you.

Random Thoughts
Or how about having one of those incomplete names like Lee. When you meet a potential wife named Norma, she’d have to think twice about how her new name would sound if she marries you. Did you know Bruce Lee’s Dad’s name? I don’t know about you but It’s always been a Mister Lee to me. Did you know that Stephen King named his son Joe? How many lawyer daughters are named Sue? How about Ben Dover or Constance Noring? My friend Bernie was named after a saint … a dog saint … Saint Bernard!

I noticed there aren’t any more Hitlers or Judases. Does Santa Claus have a real first name? And I know of only one Engelbert Humperdink — thank god!

Of course, with the influx of people migrating from different parts of the world, complex names have multiplied tenfold. In Africa there is a tribe that prides itself with the most complex sounding names — full of guttural sounds and clicks. But I bet if you call them “Hey you!” they will still respond to that.

Conclusion
Joking aside, we live with identifiers we call names. The minute we are born, our names separate us from the rest of the world. Each name has the potential for greatness. Each of us is special in God’s eyes. Names celebrate who we are supposed to be, whose family lineage we come from but it’s up to us to make our names inspire the next generation.

TGIF people!

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

“Always end the name of your child with a vowel, so that when you yell the name will carry.” — Bill Cosby

“Tigers die and leave their skins; people die and leave their names.” — Japanese Proverb

“I don’t remember anybody’s name. How do you think the “dahling” thing got started?” — Zsa Zsa Gabor

“I’d be stupid not to take into consideration that there are certain things people will not consider me for because my name is Lopez. And I know I can do any kind of role. I don’t want anybody to say, Oh, she can’t pull this off. So those are barriers that you have to overcome.” — Jennifer Lopez

“Nicknames stick to people, and the most ridiculous are the most adhesive.” — Thomas Haliburton

“A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.” — Proverbs 22:1

“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” — Acts 4:12

“Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.” –Genesis 2: 19-20