Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Write it on Wednesday - What’s in a name?

What’s in a name?

Juliet: in Romeo and Juliet:

Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is not hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.

A US couple in 2001 who tried to find a corporate sponsor for their baby son failed to find a bidder. Jason Black and Frances Schroeder used eBay and Yahoo! to auction the name of their third child. They were aiming for at least $500,000 so they could name their little boy Cisco, Microsoft, Intel, or whatever. But time ran out. Under New York State law, the deadline to put a first name on the boy's birth certificate came and went without a substantial offer. So instead, his parents decided to simply call him - Zane.

If you think about it, there are probably many stories about names. And not just people’s names, but names of houses, boats, pets…

What’s the story behind that name? What happened when someone got the name wrong? What name do you like best?

More Write it on Wednesday

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