What Makes a Name So Important?

Have you ever taken the time to think about how important a name actually is? I definitely never have until a few days ago, but then I realized how under-appreciated they truly are.  Names are used in such a nonchalant way that most people rarely notice how useful they are to a society, so try to imagine a world full of nameless citizens. What would you call everybody? Just him and her? 

There are many issues that could arise from this, such as the disrespect that would result from not being able to properly address anybody. Getting the attention of one person in a crowd of many is easy for us because we can simply call out a name. However, without names, how would you do this? If you call out character traits that this certain individual may have, such as being blonde or tall, chances are that someone else will also have these traits and you will then attract more people than just the one who you need. Living like this would be challenging, right?

Names have the power to differentiate one individual from another. Even when two people share the same first name, their middle or last names can individualize them from each other. Now some people may have identical first, middle and last names, but how likely is it that you will meet someone like this? Names can be chosen to continue on a tradition of being passed down among family generations or for religious reasons, like in Song of Solomon, how some of the character names include “Pilate,” “First Corinthians” and “Magdalene,” which are all related to religion (18). Both of these cases show how significant a name is to not only the individual, but also to his or her family. Names represent more than just what you call people or even pets, and their impact on society is greater than many realize.