Tuesday, June 19, 2012

What is in a name?

(Eliza Rose, found from here)

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."


Last night I learned that our family has welcomed a new little boy into the world, by the way of my husbands cousin. A new life is a prescious thing, and with a new life comes a name.

The name that his parents chose for their special gift just happens to be the name we had chosen for a son, if we were ever blessed with one.

And whilst I am happy for the husbands cousin (who I don't know very well, I think I have met her less than fice times in eight years), I am sad for the fact that we won't be able to ever use that name.

The name is a family name to me, and is the name of my great grandfather, a man who I idolised growing up. My Pa and I had a special bond, quite possibly because I was the only great grandchild he had. I have fond memories of him telling me the story of Jane Duff, a story which holds special meaning to him, as he lived close by.

But this got me thinking about Shakespeare, and how we put so much meaning into a word by which we call ourselves. Why do we put so much emphasis on a word, that is shared with quite possibly millions of other people in the world. Take my name, April. Whilst it is reasonably uncommon, it is not unique. The reasoning I was named April quite possibily is, however the word is not.

The logical side of my brain is yelling at me to move on, yet I still feel sad. The husband doesn't see the great deal and is still happy to use the name, as we rarely see them. But to me it's just not the same.

What do you think?



For those wondering, I was named April after my Great Gran and my Grandma being born in April, and my mother meant to be born in April. When I came along in July I had to follow the trend of the previous 3 generations, and was given the name to carry on. Pin It

3 comments:

  1. Hi April… I would use the name. Especially as it's a name that has family meaning to you. Especially as you hardly see them. And also - decent boys names are so difficult to choose. Don't let it go. xx

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  2. It's always sad when someone else uses a name you feel belongs to you. Does the new baby have the same surname as you? If not, I think it's still usable. Given the personal meaning attached to the name for you, I don't see any reason not to use it. You obviously don't see them that often so it's unlikely to be an issue of confusion. I can see the gloss might have been taken off the name for you but if sometime down the track you have a little boy you may regret not using the name. I guess that is the question you need to ask yourself: would you regret not using it more than having the same name as a second cousin?

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  3. April...if you want to, use the name you love. What does it matter? You say you hardly ever see the cousin so if the name is special to you, use it.
    No-one has claim to names, just think of how many Amy's or Ben's or even Emily's are out there at the same schools and same classes...
    Use it...it doesn't matter
    Lesley
    xx

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