What's in a name?
May 2nd 2008 06:32
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.
~ Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet Scene II.
Last week's Sunday magazine from the Telegraph featured a short article on names, how our names, both first and surname affect who we become later in life. Apparently, our names can influence on how we turn out personality-wise, what career we end up choosing, or whether we might be continuously collecting money from Centrelink instead.
"Having a name that affects your passions, profession or personality is surprisingly common" the article reports, "It's called nominative determinism.... In the UK meteorological office alone, they found staff named Flood, Frost, Thundercliffe and Weatherall."
The author of the article reportedly have a friend's called "Mark Oliver who loves olives; Brian Dunn who is a plummer who lives in Brian Street; while Billy Plummer, having spent his school days hanging out as one of the 'three tradesmen' with Ian Butcher and Dave Carpenter, married Vanessa Kitchen."
If this is true, no wonder parents often pull their hair out when trying to find a suitable name for their new born.
It got me wondering. Could names have to do with people we fall in love with then? Are we likely to love someone who has a name corresponding to ours in anyway?
I mean - what happens when two people meet and fall in love, and one of them has a surname Waters and the other Firehurst? Would one eventually distinguish the other? Are they not meant to be together?
I had a piano student whose surname was Buttomsworth. Poor kid. What would their relationship with other people like when they grow up?
I wonder if someone hated someone's name so much that they forced them to change it?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.
~ Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet Scene II.
Last week's Sunday magazine from the Telegraph featured a short article on names, how our names, both first and surname affect who we become later in life. Apparently, our names can influence on how we turn out personality-wise, what career we end up choosing, or whether we might be continuously collecting money from Centrelink instead.
"Having a name that affects your passions, profession or personality is surprisingly common" the article reports, "It's called nominative determinism.... In the UK meteorological office alone, they found staff named Flood, Frost, Thundercliffe and Weatherall."
The author of the article reportedly have a friend's called "Mark Oliver who loves olives; Brian Dunn who is a plummer who lives in Brian Street; while Billy Plummer, having spent his school days hanging out as one of the 'three tradesmen' with Ian Butcher and Dave Carpenter, married Vanessa Kitchen."
If this is true, no wonder parents often pull their hair out when trying to find a suitable name for their new born.
It got me wondering. Could names have to do with people we fall in love with then? Are we likely to love someone who has a name corresponding to ours in anyway?
I mean - what happens when two people meet and fall in love, and one of them has a surname Waters and the other Firehurst? Would one eventually distinguish the other? Are they not meant to be together?
I had a piano student whose surname was Buttomsworth. Poor kid. What would their relationship with other people like when they grow up?
I wonder if someone hated someone's name so much that they forced them to change it?
| 43 |
| Vote |
Subscribe to this blog
Comment by What's Your Story?
What's Your Story?
So You're Getting Married
Comment by AmyHuang
Sydney Table
Project Job Search
Travel Debate
Travel String
Love Adventures
Amy is just so common and everywhere I go I don't know if someone is calling me or calling someone else haha - but I like it, it suits my personality