The first couple chapters of The Namesake are mostly about the birth and naming of our main character, Gogol Ganguli. And what a mouthful his name is. As you read, the naming of this child was complicated by the family's distance from their native India and American laws that prohibited the baby being unnamed for long. The Gangulis were forced to name their baby against their will, and had to turn their back on a cherished family tradition.
My mom thought up my name, which is fine by me because my dad wanted to name me Phaedra. (He later named a dog that instead - whew.) But Mom had no particular inspiration for my name and always answered me with "I don't know, I just liked it!" when I would nag her about the story behind my name selection. I even told people I was named after my Uncle Leon. (I did have an uncle Leon, but I was not named after him.) I wanted my name to mean something, but all it stood for was something that tickled my mother's fancy. That's good enough for me now, but it sure wasn't fulfilling back then.
Talk here about your name and how you got it. Is it somehow tied to your cultural heritage? Are you named after someone in your family? If you had to rename yourself, would you? What are the pros and cons of having the name that you do?
8 comments:
I got my name from my dad. its alright, but the thing i dont like about it is that its hard to tell who the mail is for and also some phone call. There is a story behind my name, when it was time to name me, my parents were tired of being in the hospital. So my dad instead of wasting time, he just gave me his name.
My name came from my father also named Mario. Meaning there wasn't much to it other than the mexican need of naming your first son after its father. Although my last name was a different story. I was suppose to be a Hernandez not a Martinez but my grandfather died before my dad was born and my grandmother just gave him her last name in turn him giving me the Martinez name. Which im proud to be,
i actually have two names. kelly being the american name and vi (with the long i lol) as my vietnames name. the reason for that was because my mom wanted me to have an american name so that i wouldn't have any problems in school with kids making fun of my name, but it turns out that people would prefer that i go by vi. she also wanted to have a nonamerican name because she wanted to keep our culture alive. i wouldn't change it i love my name Vi its short and very unique. in fact thats what i am going to name my daughter. she didn't have a reason as to why she picked kelly or Vi it just sounded pretty to her.
i got my name from two of my mom's sisters; Laura and Edith. When i was younger i hated both my names and preferred to go by Lali or Edie. Now I still go by mostly Lali, but I don't hate any of my names anymore. Zamarripa is self-explanatory, its just a pretty cool name ;)
Phaedra... wow thats a mouthful.
yeah. too much for a little farm girl from orange, texas.
Well like most mexicans the oldest son is usually named after the father just like me. But for the sake of originality my dad took of the -o in Roberto to make my name more "american".
I guess i really wouldnt change my name for the sake of lineage which doesnt make much sence since im passing down a last name too and for the fact that im too lazy to come up with another one.
I dont really get comfused it me sharing the same name as my dad in cetain occasions because before I was born my grandpa gave me the nickname "pollito" which means little chicken. Its not the best name for someone to give to their grandkid since I got picked on a lot because of it but i dont mind because out of 50+ grandkids I was the only one to be given a nickname by my gramps, cool beans!
in my life my parents have come to realize that its much easier for the family to pass down names from generation to generation. like my name i got from my dad and inorder for me to not become a jr. my mother added a middle name. my parents thought for some reason that if i had the same name as my father that i would grow up to be just as pretty as he is, lol. but in all reality i feel that the name given to a person is going to describe that person for a life time. even famous names like malcom, jesus, and abarham shows a lot character even throught the name.
read this: if the number 2 pencil is so popular, why is it number 2?
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