Definition Essay: The Role Of Names In Everyday Life

A person’s name is their most important characteristic and is often comprised of hidden significance and centurial “hand-me-downs”. When I was assigned to research my name, I had never thought of the importance of the name my parents had given me. As a child, I always found it annoying when my peers turned to snicker at me each time our church’s music minister asked for the congregation to stand and sing “Amazing Grace.” Each time I heard the song “Mary Had a Little Lamb”, there was always someone near to ask, “Hey, where is your lamb?” After conducting research, though, I began to find little things that made me more appreciative of my name.

The origins of my first name can be traced all the way back to ancient times in the Old Testament. Jacob is a translated English version of a Hebrew name, Ya'aqov. In the Old Testament Jacob is the son of Isaac and Rebecca and the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. Additionally, these tribes are traditional divisions of the ancient Jewish people. Later on in England, Jacob was used as a Jewish name until the Protestant Reformation, making it a general Christian name. My mother most likely decided my first name because she has much faith

Most people have a story about how their parents decided on their name, especially those of us who have less common ones. Mine is fairly dry; my parents looked through a book of names and decided that “Maizie” was charming and sweet and would fit me well. My sister’s story, however, is slightly more intriguing. Cleo Arden Seidl, born on August 3rd of 2001, was named by me, Maizie Regan Seidl, when I was just two years and nine months old.

This journal speaks on how names are seen as some form of “talent” as it is bestowed upon us on birth. This also has religious implications as some feel as their name is a gift talent given from god. Everyone's name within “their eyes were watching god mean something. An example of this would be Tea Cake. “John Callahan says that Tea Cake "revivifies" names” . The names also have a slightly overshadowed sense of racism, as in a way most of the names given to black people have a sort of dumbed down approach to them. Going back to the complete disregard of the “Afro-American” culture by the

To produce this book, I asked not “What you are going to name your baby?”, but rather “What is your name? How does it make you feel? Who named you? Why did they choose that name? Would you change

Most people will agree that a name is a very important identity for a person. Beautiful names are usually given to lovely babies. Unpleasant names, however, are often criticized as bad images for people having them. Many children with “ugly” names face discrimination at school and are isolated or beaten by other children. People may wonder why parents can give that kind of “ugly” names to their children while other parents give their children nice and wonderful names. In fact, there are many factors that affect how parents will name their children, and the three main factors are culture, convenience, and socioeconomic status.

A name can say a lot about a person. Whether it is a good thing or a bad thing. Most people know me, because of my mother. My mother made our family name popular around the area due to her random acts of kindness. Our family is well known around the town as the family that is supportive, the good example, and the helpful.

Firstly, In the article “Girl fights to use unapproved name “language is visible as a name is a huge part of language and for each religion it differently spelled, pronounced and the way its given to a child. Name is a main part of language and it is main part of a person’s identity. However, in the article, “Girl fights to use unapproved name” Baler’s right of her identity is being taken away from her. Baler’s mom Eidsdottir is supporting language and identity for her daughter

Names are significant, timeless, and important parts of life, they are included in every culture and have powerful and unique meaning to the people who bear the name, the society that has created these names and God. Names are given to people based on various things such as religion, tradition, and personal connections. Most biblical names contain prophetic significance or reflect a person’s faith and gratitude towards God. Genesis 17:5 says “No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.” God changed Abram’s name to Abraham. In Genesis 17:1, God is named “El Shaddai” which means All-Sufficient One or Lord God Almighty.

My full name is Alyssa May Stanley. When my older sister was about a year old, my mom was rocking her to sleep when she saw a picture frame on the table beside. The brand name was written in the empty frame, “Alyssa”, in curly cursive letters. Ever Since then, she knew that her next daughter would be named Alyssa because of how beautiful it looked written like that and beautiful it sounded spelled like that. And that next daughter was me! The literal meaning of Alyssa is madness, derived from the the flower alyssum that is supposed to heal madness. Many sources said that anyone named Alyssa is logical, though the thought is just an assumption, there is no evidence backing that up.

A name has a lot of value and importance and therefore, naming our children should be taken seriously. The Bible is one of the few books that have been an inspiration of many baby names. The meaningful and beautiful names in the Bible depict characters that are timeless and enduring. By choosing a name from the Bible, the parents give their children a sense of purpose in God. The Israelites in the Old Testament followed this philosophy and had always chosen a name that holds significance to their children. The same was believed by the Hebrews as they believed in naming children that gives them a sense of destiny. After all, a name entails all that you are and somewhat declares your character. By choosing a Bibilical name, we also gift our

As a kid my mother would tell me how “she ask God to give her a name that would describe me as person”. One day she was at work and she saw the name Elijah and she hear a voice but no one was there say “Elijah”. Then she begin to let me know how she mixed up the paper and she God if this is you have my hand point out the name is Elijah and it happen. So that’s how I got the name Elijah which means “God is Lord, the strong Lord” (from Google). The Country that I was born in was The United States of America. My father James C. Leonard was born in the South Bronx and my mother Wanda Ostrander was born in New Jersey. The language that I speak is English. The Places where I have traveled was Canada and Down South. I went to a public school in

Names are a powerful thing. As people, the world often doesn't recognise the power of a name, though they are so significant to everyone and are often kept private, sharing rarely or not at all.

    Names are a terrible way to understand someone’s identity because names are regularly replicated. In my sixth grade class, there were three Mollys. We all had different backgrounds, different religious affiliations, and different personalities. If our names displayed who we are, wouldn’t our identities all be the same? Instead of staring at names and trying to understand their meaning, one should focus on a person’s personality, for personality depicts our identity. In fact, I have learned from experience to not infer one’s identity based on their name. For instance, in middle school, I was mutual friends with a girl named Kassidy. One Tuesday afternoon, my friend, Katy told me that Kassidy was going to sit with us at lunch that day. I shrugged my shoulders and replied with a casual “okay”. Before Kassidy walked in, I had a whole image of her in my mind: blonde hair, cute pastel colored clothes, and religious, all stereotypes that I thought a person with an innocent name like Kassidy