What's in a Name?

I am just posting an old one i'd posted sometime back on another blog of mine. new one, in the pipeline... :)

Warning to save my skin : Some of the names mentioned in this post ‘MIGHT’ (wink, wink) be those of real people. Any reference to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental and not intentional at all. So, no offence meant to anyone.

Dilip Krishnan's post on the names of cocktails triggered this post. He mentions the exotic names of the Sri Lankan cricketers. I have always marvelled at the 'spectacular' names I’ve come across, down south in my part of the country. Lemme share a few with you. mind you, I am not laughing at these names, and I am not making fun of them. Rather am wondering at the ingenuity that coined them, and some of the names are really exquisite and quite poetic.


Usually these names are a heady cocktail of one or two famous names, a common name, sometimes garnished with a twist of a poetic Tamil name. And I have come across Mary Lata Mangaskar (sic), twins named Lenin and Stalin (if MK can, why not others?), Marie Antoinette, Prince Anto Beethoven, Archangel Victorious, Apollo Rajkumar, Jebastin Mary Indra, Darling Sheeba, (how nice to be always called darling by her husband. on the other hand, any Tom, Dick or Harry could call her darling too :( ) Panimaya Vinsula, Starlet, Beta Alpha,(yes, i saw that name in the newspaper once), Jebaraja Singham(yup. not just the usual singh, but singham - lavan puli allayirunnu) Josephine Thangalet, Juliet Viola, Ophelia Miranda, (someone really knew their Shakespeare),Arulmaya Janice Vetri Malar, Monica Damayanthi, and so on and so forth.

I have marveled at how people come up with these names. I guess it is the 'phoren' sound that attracts them. And I also know that quite a few of people are rather unhappy with their parents' choices. While some names are just amusing, it is kind of sad to see a kid burdened with a name like Lincoln Kennedy Chengiz Khan. (Believe me I have heard that one too) What next? Well, parents do need to do their research before they just pluck names off old history books and foist them on their unsuspecting kids.


Or for that matter that poor guy I read about in some blog long back, who went around with an albatross of a name around his neck – Blossom Babykutty. Apparently, he got automatically put down for cooking or embroidery classes every school year. (Now let’s not get into a ‘sexism’ battle here.) And in my knowledge, the names that take the cake - A pair of twins named Busty and Booby!!!!!?????. And to make matters worse, they were boys. Whatever were the parents thinking of?


Meanwhile, let me just conclude quoting the Bard, “what’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by another name would smell as sweet...” But going through life with a name like Busty or Booby can in no way be sweet. I’d definitely suggest a name change.