The public final I was assigned to this morning left me scarred. For life. It was Lydia Foucachon's final, and she was talking about words and their meanings, for that is the basis of her thesis. During the question period at the end of the final, however, someone asked her about names we give our children. "Do the meanings of the names that we give our children effect what and who the child grows up to be?" "Yes," was her answer.
That blew me away. They actually have an effect on us?
When I was little I didn't really like my name. Its so uncommon. It got me weird looks from other kids I met, and I felt stupid having to repeat it when people were caught off guard and asked me again. I suppose in a horrible way, I was ashamed of it.
Once I got to high school, though, I had despaired of ever having a nickname, and had accepted that I'd just be called Faith for the rest of my life. I was fine with it and definitely wasn't ashamed anymore.
When I was a Junior or so, though, I started really paying attention to my name. I mean, I've always known what my name means, but I suddenly wanted to live up to it. I wanted to not just be Faith, but ... I wanted to be faith. And I wanted it strongly. I began trying really hard to change who I was. To live up to my name. To be worthy of it, now that I actually understood it. My name finally had taken effect on me, and I was glad that it had.
The funny thing is that now I do have a nickname that I get called by on a regular basis. And I love it! But as much as I love it, I love my real name best. Its a compliment, a blessing. Addie is wonderful too because she is someone who is way stronger than Faith often appears to be. The people who call me Faith don't see me having to be as strong as Addie has to be all the time. Addie is strong and stands her ground, while Faith often doesn't need to. She isn't pushed as much as Addie is. I'm proud of who Addie is, but Faith is who I really am.
Lydia said that the names we give our children do have an impact on who they grow up to be. That's not to say that someone who names their daughter Jezebel is dooming her, of course not. Rather, we should choose names with meanings and/or stories that our children will want to imitate. Names that they will want to live up to and be worthy of.
It certainly worked like that for me. It might have taken time, but I did choose to be what my name means. I made a decision because I not only wanted it, but also thought it was the right thing to do. I still stick out, and people still give me odd looks sometimes, but instead of being ashamed of repeating myself, I'm thankful that I get to speak this word once again. My name is Faith. That's like pronouncing right then and there that I'm a Christian. How cool is that?
I may be called Addie, and I may love it, but ultimately that isn't who I am. I am Faith. And that's who I want to be.
7 comments:
:-) great post. I do have to wonder, then, what is in my name? It means "from the pit of clay" Or more specifically, a town on ground that is very clay-ish.
Regardless, I'm sure that Lydia's final was really cool!
I loved this post, Faith!! Mom has always told me, I think, that my name means "Called by God"; I just looked it up and a site says it means "God is gracious." So, either way, it's pretty cool. :) I also have always loved the story behind my name.. I am named after the woman who led Mom to the Lord. It seems to me to be a privilege to have the name I do. :)
Love this post, Faith :) My name means 'youthful' which translates into 'bounciness' *grins*
This reminds me of our GB III assignment when we did those cool name etymologies after reading The Golden Legend - remember? :D
Good post. I did a study on my name too. Robert means "bright" or "famous." "Noland" is an Irish protestant variation of "Nolan" which is an anglicized version of "O'Nuallain" which again translates to "fame." So, I conclude that my name is redundant and sort of arrogant.
Wow, that sounds like it was a very fascinating final!
I love your name. :)
My first name and last name mean "peaceful" and "battle-sword" respectively. So I am an oxymoron.
"Addie is wonderful too because she is someone who is way stronger than Faith often appears to be. The people who call me Faith don't see me having to be as strong as Addie has to be all the time. Addie is strong and stands her ground, while Faith often doesn't need to. She isn't pushed as much as Addie is. I'm proud of who Addie is, but Faith is who I really am."
-I understand that completely. I've often found myself almost living in two different personalities--Blue and Daniel. Blue was who I always wanted to be and Daniel was everything I was trying to not be. But slowly, they are becoming one.
Good post. I intend to name my first son Clivestaples Gilbertkeith Maycock *grin*.
Wonderful post. Faith, I have always loved your name. When I first met you, I thought to myself what a strong, Christian name it was, and what your parents were declaring to the world when they gave you that name. It's beautiful. My name, like Juliet's, means "youthful" and I guess I am rather bouncy, too. Names certainly do seem to affect what and who we are,and if we view that properly, it's a wonderful thing. I love you!
Julie
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