What’s in a name? Everything. Our surname reveals our links to our father and his father and his father. It announces our ancestral home to everyone. And it is an attachment to our family. Our given name is the first gift our parents bestow on us.
It is the name they tell the world to call us. It reveals our ethnic identity. And it is a personal connection to those in our family of the same name who have come before. What’s in a name? Everything.
“Michael, there is absolutely no way Turnbull will go, they can’t win an election without him.”
“They just don’t like him, Jim, he’s gone.”
“Peter, who cares about Turnbull, have you seen what Tsipras is doing?”
“Tsipras can’t sneeze without Troika’s say so, John. He didn’t put Greece in this position.”
“I’m thinking we prepare differentiated exam revisions for our students, Cath. We could have activities in three categories; checking definitions, open book case studies, and closed book exams.”
“That’ll work well, Ren. And then we can spend time guiding each student to the best activity for them.”
“I don’t know how you have it. Dean? Con?”
“We don’t have a Dean on our database, sir. We’ll try Con.”
“His name is Konstantinos, but I can’t remember what we wrote on his papers.”
“Should we give him a call and ask him his name?”
“I’ll call him and he can come here. He works around the corner.”
“Check out this picture, John. We found it on a holiday to my grandfather’s village. It’s his ID card. Florina wasn’t Greek when he was born there in 1870, so his parents named him Jovan. I guess that was the local version of Gianni, so he could fit in.”
In Act II Scene II of Romeo and Juliet, Juliet stands on her balcony and entreats the unseen Romeo to “Deny thy father and refuse thy name. Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.”
Her heart has been captured, but a name stands in its way. She playfully considers it easier to ask Romeo to change his name or for her to change her name, rather than to allow her love be lost.
In the ancient Egyptian tale of Isis and the Snake, the goddess Isis poisons the sun god Ra with a serpent created from his own saliva. Ra is unable to expunge the venom and so relents to her terms; he tells her his true name. With this knowledge, Isis is able to wield complete control over Ra, allowing her to put her son Horus on the throne.
The name I have been baptised is Yiannis. But that’s my secret name. The name on my birth certificate is John. Jovan of Florina was also a Yiannis. He and I are separated by 150 years and 15,000 kilometres; different times, different cultures, different reality. Yet he and I were both given a secret name and a public name. Michael is Michali. Jim is Dimitri. Peter is Panagioti. Cath is Katerina. Renee is Eirini. Dean is Konstantinos. Maybe this is wise. When Odysseus is captured by Polyphemus he blinds the giant to allow his escape. His success comes from his refusal to reveal his true name, lying that it is ‘Ούτις’ (nobody). Polyphemus calls for help, crying that ‘nobody’ has hurt him, and so no giant comes to help him. But when safety has been reached Odysseus boasts his true name. Polyphemus tells his father Poseidon who is able to chase Odysseus and his men with untold terrors for the remainder of their journey home.
Maybe in keeping our name secret we prevent hostility from those who would pursue us and make our lives more difficult. Maybe we are wise to lie so that we can fit in. But in this, the 21st century, the century where so many have stood up and told the world who they truly are, maybe we can be our true selves and use our true names without fear or prejudice. Maybe our secret name can also be the name we are known by. Maybe, just maybe.