Eccentric Flower:199808/the naming of names
From Eccentric Flower
«August 1998 «Eccentric Flower
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twenty august ninety eight noon the naming of names Al Schroeder, agent provocateur, writes today about how names are important, and how when a kid reaches a certain age, he should be allowed to choose his own name, rather than continuing to depend on one that someone else chose for him. I agree. I do happen to think the age should be a little higher than he suggests, primarily because I think it should be a ritual associated with the coming of adulthood, not adolescent independence. Also, it'll help reduce the incidence of people renaming themselves after celebrities, and other fadlike nomenclature. I have an unjustified cranky streak about names. (Imagine! Me, cranky!) I realize that if a name is personally significant to you, then it is, period, and no one is entitled to mock it. Nonetheless I wince when I meet a Moonbeam Starchaser or some such - and living around Cambridge I meet quite a few of them. At least, as Mr. Schroeder notes, it's better that the person picked out that silly name for themself ... as opposed to, say, River, Rain, and Leaf Phoenix, who probably bear silent grudges against their parents. (Or maybe not ... as actors they had every opportunity to change their names, and they didn't. Maybe it's a badge of honor to them.) More tellingly, I'm not allowed to cast stones ... given that I have picked a rather improbable, Victorian, and - yes - flowery name for myself, one which doesn't even happen to fit my anatomy! This isn't because I hate my birth name ... my parents gave me three proper names, ensuring statistically that there'd be at least one usable one in the lot. It's because I dislike being what I am. So names are a tool to control what you are, yes? My case is a little extreme, but I've seen people who took a new name because they wanted to be sexier, or smarter, or just plain different from what they were before. Or - other way 'round - because they realized that they had become something different, and their old name no longer fit. Years back, I read Child of Fortune, Norman Spinrad's good book. (No offense, Mr. Schroeder, but I can't stand Bug Jack Barron.) In that, the children take a "wanderjahr" when they are in late adolescence - an extended trip to discover themselves and the world. Some make their hejira with a backpack, in a state of poverty, some in high style; some take only a few weeks, some several years. At the end, they take an adult name of their choosing. It is not lost on me that the introduction of Columbine came directly after the period when, with no job, no relationship, no place to live, and no prospects, something strange and spontaneous possessed me and I got in the car to make a twenty-six hour journey across the country from bottom to top. Several times. I was twenty-five at the time ... but I've always been a late bloomer. © columbine |
