What's in a name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."

William Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

Have you ever wondered why we name things the way we do? Are we able to justify the importance given to names and the phenomenon of naming people, pets, software, books or blog posts for that matter.

Personal names could be attributed as the most important part of one's life, apart from our family, salary, dinner, loved ones, health, food, movies and ....oh alright, its probably not the most important, but it does figure amongst them. Our names are, after all, the most used words, most typed, and as kids, it was probably one of the first combination of letters that we learnt to recognize (although I'm told mine was "Goofy").

Discovering the meaning of our name could enlighten us to pursue our purpose in life and lead us on the path into the light. Or on a much lighter note, we could use it as a conversational topic once we've exhausted the typical, "It's is a lovely day today". Simply by having an innate connection to our name cannot magically help improve our grades or earn us money. Meaningful names add character, but cannot redeem one's personality.

Most parents these days are aiming for meaningful, unique and yet crisp and easy to pronounce names. Some do run dry out of ideas (and a sense of humour) and name their kids after themselves, with a "Jr" suffix or go ahead and pick their favourite media icon. Either ways, I've heard and seen several people wanting to change their names once they are old enough to do so for convenience, simplicity or (thanks to the generation gap) to avoid embarrassment.

So, how do we figure how much importance to ascribe to the one word which identifies us? There is a wide range of people in this world, some of them just take their names for granted and don't think twice before using it, saying it or giving it to someone. On the other hand, there are those who would go lengths to change it, just because it sounds embarrassing or doesn't "work" for them.

The Namesake" is a book by Jhumpa Lahiri, about a multigenerational story of an Indian family and their journey across continents and cultures. It has been picturized into a beautiful movie by Mira Nair starring Kal Penn (a stage name for Kalpen Suresh Modi, aha!). A must-read, it is centered around the character of Gogol Ganguli, who, with his awkward name, tries to find his place in society, while learning to define and accept himself.

My name has had its variations too and when I think back at the times and situations where I've had to use it, an amused smile does escape my lips. The Japanese language has fewer syllables than its Indian counterparts, so it was little surprise to me that the "ksh" sound wasn't available to them. However, the "pre" sound was also alien, since the Japanese do not have sounds which combine more than one syllable. My name, therefore, was minced and tethered into a "pu-re-ku-shya". Close enough?!

Moreover, to my absolute surprise, I've been subjected to a "Prakash" (that's a different name and gender!), "Presshka" and "Rachael" (o-yeah, don't ask), which has me convinced that my name should feature somewhere on the global tongue-twister-names list. What say?