What’s In A Name?

           Writing Celebrity Watching in Labuan got me thinking about this 500-year-old question and inspired this piece of writing.  So, 500 years ago, Shakespeare asked this question.  He went on to say “that which we call a rose, by any other name would smell just as sweet”.  Sooooo…. nothing’s in a name?


            I don’t know about this one.  I think if bunga ros or bunga mawar is called, say… bunga tahi lembu, the world would be a very different place.  It’d be like an alternate reality where drinking water is blue and men give birth.  You wouldn’t dream of giving your honey sejambak bunga tahi lembu now, would you?  And you know what, I don’t believe bunga tahi lembu would smell just as sweet as bunga ros, regardless of how pretty it is.  LM Montgomery said “live your life so that it beautifies your name, even if it isn’t beautiful to begin with.”   That is a beautiful thought, but what’s a little flower to do if it is called bunga tahi lembu??

            The issue of names is rather close to my heart at this moment.  I am in the midst of searching for a suitable name for my soon-to-be-born baby girl.  There are lots of pretty names out there.  But I believe there’s more to a name than just the way it sounds.  There’s the meaning, of course.  I think the meaning is of utmost importance.  Really, what is the use of having a pretty sounding name if it means something vulgar, or if it has no meaning at all?  Which is just as bad.  I know one Malay name which is quite common, and which sounds quite pretty and nice, but the meaning!  Well this name actually means “prostitute”.  Fancy that.  Not at all nice!

                        Non Malay      : Hi, what’s your name?

                        Malay girl        : Hi, I’m XXXX.

                        Non Malay      : Oh, that’s a really pretty name.  What does it mean?

                        Malay girl        : It’s… err… ummm… it means… umm… prostitute.

                        Non Malay      : Were you adopted?

            Then there was this couple I read about in some papers or magazine some time back.  They had a daughter, and apparently couldn’t decide between two lovely but quite common names.  Being in that quandary, coupled with the fact that they wanted something unique and different for their daughter, they combined the two names and created a never-before-heard name.  Something like AAAA + BBBB = AABB.  Unique alright. Well, if you’re into that kind of things.    For me, it just reminds me of “kacuk-ing” lembu and seladang and getting selembu.  Or ayam and puyuh and getting puyam.  Not appealing.  I mean, what the heck does the name mean???

            Then there’s also the story and history behind the name.  It’s not just the meaning that makes the name meaningful.  A child could be named after the father’s favourite poet, or maybe the mother’s favourite aunt.  Maybe the mother dreamed of the name when she was pregnant.  Maybe the child while still a foetus jumped excitedly at the sound of the name, thereby leading the parents to conclude that that was the name it wanted! 

I just can’t help but wonder at the wisdom (and sanity) of parents who name their kids after something as transient and as forgettable as a character in a TV serial or a pop artiste/group.  What possible aspiration could the parents have for their newborn son by naming him Michael Learns To Rock?  Sure, when the child was born back in the early nineties, Michael Learns To Rock rocked.  But now, more than a decade and a half later, who even remembers them?  In the meantime, little Michael Learns To Rock is stuck with that name, for eternity.