One of the most important parts of your name is your last name. It tells a story of who your ancestors were, and where they came from. You can learn the struggles they to face, all from that simple yet powerful name. My family's last name is Parker. Technically, my dad is a Herlihy, but my mother kept her maiden name and thus I got my mothers last name. My fathers last name comes from an Irish word Iarfhlaith’ which means lord of the west. My surname however means something different and somewhat funny. Parker is English, and it was a name for gameskeeper employed in a medievel park. It came from the agent derivitive of parc. From this, I can clearly see that my family, was from the Great Britain area, and I learned later that I had great grandparents who lived through the Great Potatoe Famine of Ireland and thus moved to America for a new hope.
Middle names on the other hand are a different story. Some people wonder "What is even teh point of a middle name?" Mainly, its for the kids. As Family Education has stated "Not giving your child a middle name can set him or her apart from the rest of the kids" (Family Education). And even if thats not the case, maybe when they grow older they will want to go by something else. For example, my middle name is Michael, which means who is like God, which is understandable considering that Michael is the archangel (the leader of the angel army, and the one who will kill the dragon according to Revelations). I never really went by Michael because it was popular in my elementary school, and I really like my first name.
And now for the big one: the first name. First names can mean a lot, when you first meet someone, you know their first name, and from that moment you already start to draw conclusions about the person. I have a friend named Konstantine who when you hear that, you think insane manly man or geeky math nerd. But sometimes names can fool you, because he is just a music major. My first name is Christopher. It comes from the Greek word Khristophoros. It has two parts to it: the first part Kristos means Christ and the Pherein means to bear. Early christians therefore were named Christopher for the metorphorical fact that they bore jesus in their hearts. Christopher is also the name of an early saint who bore the theoritical
But maybe, just maybe, a name is something more than a labeling system. People back in the dark ages use to believe that names have power. If you were a general named Michael like the archangel, leader of the angels, then you were known for your leadership and power. But does that apply to our society now? In a way it does. In the words of Levitt and Dubner "Once a name catches on among high-income, highly educated parents, it starts working its way down the the socioeconomic ladder" (119). So what does that mean exactly? Basically, names are created by people looking up to successful and powerful people. If we see upper families start to name their kids Emily, then Emily is the new hit sensation. It trickles down through the families until the upper class people see the "filthy" lower class named the same as them, then they start another name. Parents honestly believe that a successful life can start with a successful name. And I can understand that. If I am running a job interview for a big corporation, and someone named Storm came in and wanted a job as a CEO, I would be a little reluctant to give him the job. Therefore parents also want to give a name thats professional so that their child has every chance in the world to succeed. Thats all parents ever want for their kids anyways.
Even with the proffessional sounding names and the history behind the names, there are still thousands of names to choose from. How do our parents just decide on two? Well I can't say for everyone's parents, but I know what was the tie breaker for my name. My parents like three syllable names. It was as simple as that. They choose Christopher for the history of the saint and of the meaning and they thought it had a "melodical touch" to it. The other choices were Nicholas for a boy and Kimberly if I was a girl (which is the name of my little sister)
A name can be as simple as a label to a person, or as complicated as the future. But one thing is for sure: names are unique, and through their uniqueness comes individuality. Our parents may just get lucky with the names, or maybe the names actually reflect the person. One thing is for sure though, they choose the names for important reasons and don't throw names around like they are nothing. Names are very powerful words, and powerful words can impact human life forever.
