 How Name And Identity Matter To An Individual
“What’s in a name?” Shakespeare’s Juliet may not have thought names so important. But, the fact is that name does matter. Name is in fact so important that you may wonder ‘what’s not in a name. The very idea of identity is related to it.
You might say, identity of an individual is not so restricted that it should be limited to the name only. Yes, that is true. But you also have to understand that name is not just a word that a person is called by. When you talk about the identity of an individual you also take into account his/her social identity and cultural identity. And, names do carry with them cultural as well as social aspects.
H. Edward Deluzain has well explained that name is significantly related with social identity as well as cultural identity of an individual. According to him, “This bestowal of name and identity is a kind of symbolic contract between the society and the individual... The name differentiates the child from others; thus, the society will be able to treat and deal with the child as someone with needs and feelings, different from those of other people. Through the name, the individual becomes part of the history of the society, and, because of the name, his or her deeds will exist separate from the deeds of others.”
You can also take for example the practice of rechristening babies in Christianity. Though this practice is more social than religious, you cannot deny the religion part. So, it appears that the name of an individual also serves to establish the religious identity of an individual.
What would you like to say now? “What’s in a name?” Or, ‘What’s not in a name?”
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