A Rose by any other name...

Have you ever wanted to have another name? When I was younger, I thought that Veronica was the best name, followed by Philipa. I don’t remember why I liked Veronica but I was into reading English school girl books and horse stories and there were a few Philipas who starred in them so that seemed like a great name. I disliked then and still dislike Jessica. I don’t even remember knowing a Jessica but it’s a name I just don’t like.

I thought that Aurora would be a good choice instead of Dawn – Dawn is not uncommon as a middle name but there aren’t too many Dawns of my generation as a first name.

One of my second cousins is named Carol Dawn but apparently her family’s minister (or someone like that) told her mother that Dawn was not a suitable name for a child so although her mother had wanted to call her Dawn Carol she became Carol Dawn and was always known as Carol. After she moved from Montreal to Calgary as an adult, she decided to start a new life with the name she had always preferred and so she became Dawn.

I sometimes look at names and wonder if the parents were playing Scrabble when the child was born and they had to create a name with the tiles they had and that is why their child ended up with the name they did.

David has a theory and if you can’t tell the gender of the person, they are probably female. It is as if the parents are hoping that nobody knows they have had a girl so they give her a neutral name or make up a spelling that is unusual.

I read about a family a few years ago where the three boys had names like Ryan, Robert and Jason but the girl was named Bambi! I just can’t imagine having my bank manager named Bambi. How about “Officer Bambi”? I think she will have a really hard time being taken seriously when she grows up.

I bought a book called something like “Beyond Jason and Jennifer – Names for the New Age” a few years ago, after I had children. It had lists of names and the type of professions you would expect people with these names to have – George could be an accountant but Desiree was more likely to be an exotic dancer.

I also remember reading a study where lists of names of job candidates were given to prospective employers and without any other information, they were to choose who to interview. For women, names such as Doris were more trusted to be hard workers and make good assistants but Jennifer was more likely to be chosen as a receptionist.

So, if you could change your name, would you? Do you think it would change who you are or how people expect you to be? Have you become your name?