What is in a name?

Identity or identification matters much in our modern world. In an era of sophisticated crime patterns, it has become more than necessary to identify and keep track of who is doing what. Most advanced economies have succeeded in achieving a high level of capacity to sift through the crowd and track both citizens and residents there.

They have been able to attain such heights largely through the help of data banks where information about an individual can easily be stored or retrieved. They often source information from facial recognition, fingerprints, DNA record, family records, etc. This approach has brought about significant results. But let me introduce you to an outstanding form of identification that every human ought to possess and which is primarily not for crime-fighting.

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This important means of identification is in the name an individual bears. A name helps distinguish one human from the other. Our names are unique tags. In some cultures, names, or naming, is held in high regard. As an example, amongst some tribes in Nigeria, a newborn child is supposed to be given a name within 8days after birth.

While some tribes will have a feast alongside this naming event, others don’t attach much fanfare to it. And whether a feast is present or absents the significance of the name that is given to a child is never overlooked. It is often believed that the name that a person carries will end up becoming the future reality of such an individual.

For this reason, it will not be a thing of surprise to find persons bearing names that associates with positive realities or history. Such names as Joseph, Daniel, Gideon, Mary, Abraham, Victor/Victory, Blessing, Favour, Goodluck, Peter, John, etc, top the list of the common names.

But what really is in a name? “Your Name communicates so much more than simply a tag or label of what to call you. Your name becomes the representation of who you are; who you are to your family, to your boss, to your friends, to your children, to the businessman in the office, or the waitress at your table.

Your name establishes the beginning of a reputation, and the whole of that reputation is recalled by the thought of speaking of your name.” From the preceding quote, it can be seen that a name can function as an autobiography for an individual as such a person progresses in life and builds a personal record of themselves.

Your name can speak on your behalf. Think of Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King Jnr., DaVinci, Mark Zuckerberg, Jay Jay Okocha, Kwame Nkruma, the list is inexhaustible. These names ring a bell. You too can have such. Therefore, watch the reputation you build around our name.

There are value and worth in a name. Relish this aphorism as we close: “one crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name.”