What's in a name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." This is the famous quote from Act 2 Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet in which Juliet justifies and excuses herself for falling in love with one of her family’s enemies—a Montague. What she’s saying is that it doesn’t matter what his name is; it doesn’t matter that her parents wouldn’t trust him with her life or that the Capulets and Montagues have reputations for not getting along. What matters is that she’s known him for a few short hours, and in that time he’s proven that he “kisses by the book” and can give a fair compliment (“But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?/ It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.”). He’s proven that he can make her heart flutter and her lips tingle. No, his name doesn’t matter.

Obviously, I disagree. Names do matter. I go by Deborah because I think Debbie sounds ditzy (and I don’t want to give the wrong impression) and Deb makes me think of someone generations older than I am. (Besides that fact, Deb also reminds me of a girl named Wi from Thailand that continually called me Debdeb, and so anytime someone calls me Deb I have a reverberating “Debdeb” fly through my head.) Of course this discussion of names and roses quickly turns into a highly theoretical discussion. Would we have girls walking around with the name “Turnip” if someone had decided to call a sweet-smelling flower by that name instead of “rose”? However the origins of various words come about, words and names do have meanings. And that is why “Rose” is a girl’s name and “Turnip” is not.

Just think of all the meanings associated with the names of God. Immanuel. Messiah. I Am. Creator. Almighty. Lord. Master. Savior. Prince. Son. Name above all names.

Lately my homeroom students have been pestering me about what we’ll name our son. Since we’ve decided not to disclose the name until we know for sure that he’s a boy, I don’t tell them the actual name. But it sure is fun to see their reactions to names like Eusebius, Erasmus, and Tybalt. Their reactions somewhat prove my point.