So what IS in a name?
When I started this blog I had every intention of its being a philosophical treatise; however, it has quickly become more of emotional therapy. With my original intention in mind I pose a question:
What importance so we place on a name? Is a name more than just that? If so, what all do we encompass in our discernment of a name?
Personally, I never thought about the importance of names until I started doing genealogy research this summer. I found the Mormon's search engine (very helpful if you know the full names of long dead ancestors like great or great-great grandparents - oh and you aren't Catholic - sorry Mel and Colleen) www.familysearch.org and started collecting information on my mother's maternal side (mother's mother's family). I quickly - well not so quickly actually - found out that, according to the Mormon's, I am descended from not one but two royal dynasties. Through the Mormon's records I found direct links to the Plantagenet and Carolingian royal dynasties. This meant that I was descended from some of the most famous (or infamous) people in Medieval history - King Edward III (Longshanks), King John (a.k.a Evil Prince John), Eleanor of Aquitaine (most powerful woman in Medieval Europe), & Charlemagne (along with a bunch of other Holy Roman Emperors)! In addition, I also found out that I am descended from two Catholic saints and two nearly saints (people who were marked as Blessed but got no further). I mean these aren't you popular, everyday saints - I bet my mother-in-law wouldn't have even heard of them. I am descended from Saint Begga (Beggia, Beggue, Bega) and Saint Arnulf of Metz - both of whom were sainted for -- I kid you not -- building churches and dying of old age. It must have been a slow day on the Vatican roster.
This discovery of my connection to such prominent and once powerful names made me feel important. However, was this newly found feeling of importance and permanence deserved or was it simply an ignorant clutch at pseudo fame? Why should my feeling of self worth and importance change because of suddenly being connected to a few names? I didn't know these people - there must be thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people also descended from them - so why do I feel so special to part of their "name?" Does only a name add importance?
What do you think?
posted by MaggieCat at 7:59 PM
2 Comments:
I couldn't find anybody. The oldest relative I could remember off the top of my head was good old...great-great grandpa Gysbert. I think that was his name. I found his birth record in Holland but that was it.
A name in itself can't add importance, because something must have happened to give that name importance in the first place.
If I renamed myself Mel Gibson, it wouldn't make a difference.
A name comes from actions, it takes deeds to make a name.
-I think people want to feel important, they want to know that they're part of something bigger and better. Even if they're only part of something by loose family ties, people feel like they're able to share in it.
-I know that's not all of it, just some of my thoughts. I figured since you asked for reply's, I'd offer one.
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