What is in a name?
"What is in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
Thanks Juliet.
A name cane mean many things to many people. The literal meaning of my given name, Sarah, is 'princess'. It has it's routes in Christianity (and Judaism and Islam) as the wife of Abraham, the father of the three religions.
My surname is old Saxon English and roughly translates as 'one who lives near a cross'. The first churches were effectively fields with a cross in them so that people knew where to meet before buildings were put up. The land was likely owned by the 'Critcher' who would maintain the cross and ensure there was a good place to meet for religious ceremonies.
There are many places around the world that give emphasis to the meaning of names. The Japanese really think about the names they give their children and a name like Hajime would mean new beginning. If we believe Haruma Miura's tale (he's a hot and talented Japanese actor) who said his mum called him Haruma because it means 'spring horse'...well then.
Anyway, above is a literal interpretation of my names but a name is a powerful thing to an individual. It can have a personal meaning or it can help to create an identity. One of the most important things when someone born one gender or another identifies as the opposite is the choosing of their name. It must be something meaningful that fits who they are and it is not a light decision.
For me, my name is more than the literal interpretation. My name gives me an identity just as it does for anyone else. My given name is simple and timeless and yet it was one of the most popular girl's names the year I was born so I think it sets a time for my age and where I have come from and what I have been through. It is my surname that has the most meaning for me though and the whole point of this post really is the fear of losing that meaning.
It is (as I write) 2 weeks and 1 day until I get married and change my surname. This is not a problem for me as such and I am looking forward to the day very much and I even want to take on the surname of my fiance. The thing is that my surname has been my name for my whole life and I am rather attached to it.
To me it gives me a connection to my parents and my brother. I know I won't lose that once I get married but it will be strange to have a difference name to them. People have told me I can keep my surname but that kind of seems to make marriage pointless (there is a whole other argument about the point of marriage today which I won't go into here).
Being a Critcher means being close knit and loyal and yet at the same time having the most evil and dark sense of humour. We are really dark, like so dark it would be offensive to tell you about it. I could never really repeat even half of it and the other half very few people get. You either love us or hate us. I have never found another group of people that I feel so comfortable with in my whole life! We are so wrong it is right.
I am proud of my family, especially my immediate family. When my parents married they moved away from their family support network and so my whole life it was just the four of us (well, three until my brother turned up). We had to rely on each other for everything and it was so important to remember that growing up. We are fiercely protective of each other and I would never let anyone pick on my brother at school and even now we stand up for each other all the time. I can call him a dick but if anyone else does they will get a (verbal) beating.
Family is important to me. The thing I have to remember is that I a starting a new one, one that will be an extension of the one I already have. I find it weird though because most of my fiance's family all live really close to us and so they do a lot together and it feels like I will be swallowed up in that. I am looking forward to that. I don't want anyone reading this to get the wrong idea. The point I am trying (and failing as usual) to make is that I am not used to having such an extended family around me all the time. It has been fascinating to see this in action over the last few years. As something I am not used to it is nice to see how this works and I will be glad to be a part of it (not that I am not already I suppose). It is just I have not had it to that extent in my own family because we live so far apart.
Of course I feel like I can call on my extended family if I need to and I am looking forward to seeing them all at the wedding in a couple of week's time. It is just that the distance between us means that I have not had them around me my whole life and only at special occasions or if we happen to be at my grandparent's house at the same time.
Basically, is it going to make a huge difference if I change my name? It doesn't change who I am as a person and it doesn't change where I have come from. Yet there is a strange fear of changing my name as it changes the perception those outside of both families have of me. This is something that is going to feel weird to me for some time I think.
Thanks Juliet.
A name cane mean many things to many people. The literal meaning of my given name, Sarah, is 'princess'. It has it's routes in Christianity (and Judaism and Islam) as the wife of Abraham, the father of the three religions.
My surname is old Saxon English and roughly translates as 'one who lives near a cross'. The first churches were effectively fields with a cross in them so that people knew where to meet before buildings were put up. The land was likely owned by the 'Critcher' who would maintain the cross and ensure there was a good place to meet for religious ceremonies.
There are many places around the world that give emphasis to the meaning of names. The Japanese really think about the names they give their children and a name like Hajime would mean new beginning. If we believe Haruma Miura's tale (he's a hot and talented Japanese actor) who said his mum called him Haruma because it means 'spring horse'...well then.
Anyway, above is a literal interpretation of my names but a name is a powerful thing to an individual. It can have a personal meaning or it can help to create an identity. One of the most important things when someone born one gender or another identifies as the opposite is the choosing of their name. It must be something meaningful that fits who they are and it is not a light decision.
For me, my name is more than the literal interpretation. My name gives me an identity just as it does for anyone else. My given name is simple and timeless and yet it was one of the most popular girl's names the year I was born so I think it sets a time for my age and where I have come from and what I have been through. It is my surname that has the most meaning for me though and the whole point of this post really is the fear of losing that meaning.
It is (as I write) 2 weeks and 1 day until I get married and change my surname. This is not a problem for me as such and I am looking forward to the day very much and I even want to take on the surname of my fiance. The thing is that my surname has been my name for my whole life and I am rather attached to it.
To me it gives me a connection to my parents and my brother. I know I won't lose that once I get married but it will be strange to have a difference name to them. People have told me I can keep my surname but that kind of seems to make marriage pointless (there is a whole other argument about the point of marriage today which I won't go into here).
Being a Critcher means being close knit and loyal and yet at the same time having the most evil and dark sense of humour. We are really dark, like so dark it would be offensive to tell you about it. I could never really repeat even half of it and the other half very few people get. You either love us or hate us. I have never found another group of people that I feel so comfortable with in my whole life! We are so wrong it is right.
I am proud of my family, especially my immediate family. When my parents married they moved away from their family support network and so my whole life it was just the four of us (well, three until my brother turned up). We had to rely on each other for everything and it was so important to remember that growing up. We are fiercely protective of each other and I would never let anyone pick on my brother at school and even now we stand up for each other all the time. I can call him a dick but if anyone else does they will get a (verbal) beating.
Family is important to me. The thing I have to remember is that I a starting a new one, one that will be an extension of the one I already have. I find it weird though because most of my fiance's family all live really close to us and so they do a lot together and it feels like I will be swallowed up in that. I am looking forward to that. I don't want anyone reading this to get the wrong idea. The point I am trying (and failing as usual) to make is that I am not used to having such an extended family around me all the time. It has been fascinating to see this in action over the last few years. As something I am not used to it is nice to see how this works and I will be glad to be a part of it (not that I am not already I suppose). It is just I have not had it to that extent in my own family because we live so far apart.
Of course I feel like I can call on my extended family if I need to and I am looking forward to seeing them all at the wedding in a couple of week's time. It is just that the distance between us means that I have not had them around me my whole life and only at special occasions or if we happen to be at my grandparent's house at the same time.
Basically, is it going to make a huge difference if I change my name? It doesn't change who I am as a person and it doesn't change where I have come from. Yet there is a strange fear of changing my name as it changes the perception those outside of both families have of me. This is something that is going to feel weird to me for some time I think.
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