As the world grows increasingly smaller and more uniform in its styles, fashions, and behaviors, it seems that humanity is undergoing a backlash of sorts; seeking desperately to distinguish and differentiate themselves from an avalanche of “sameness” from among peers and colleagues. It might be a youtube video of someone acting or saying out a comic routine that imprints that person as unique. Or, it could be a new slogan for a company that says, “We are different; not like the rest.” Again, as an example, we see the race to come up with that special resume that looks unlike all the mass of paperwork vying for a place on top of the personnel coordinator’s desk. It seems that in all areas, we feel increasingly “grouped” and “labeled” toward a certain “camp”; something we naturally resist and desire to move away from. We want to be special; unique; exclusive; “the one and only.”
And as this backlash moves through our society, it appears that it will touch all facets of our life. Why, even the naming of new additions to our families (the human kind) is taking a dramatic turn of events in recent years. The same old standbys like John, Mary, Tom, and William are sounding too bland; or too much like the old days perhaps. New names are taking shape, like: Forrest; Zayden; River; and even Metallica. What does this all mean? As the Wall Street Journal recently noted, the quest is on for parents to come up with just the perfect name for various reasons. Among them, the need for the child to stand out among many others was cited by parents as well as the fear of being associated with something undesirable like porn stars or villains or “bad Karma.” The stress is also on, because this baby name industry is growing with the information age, and now there seems to be more names than before; which some have interpreted to mean more decisions than before. As more of the global environment shifts drastically, there is a need to find a name that will not be thrown into the pool of the masses and hence, remain like all the others.
In biblical times, it appears more often than not that care was taken to find the meaning of names to associate with a newborn. From an event (Sarah laughing, producing Isaac------meaning laughter) to a bodily characteristic (a hairy specimen named Esau, meaning rough) to a prophetic calling (Yeshua or Joshua-----meaning God bringing salvation), there was a tendency to link offspring with at least the family lineage (for a good list of strong foundational names, check out our database). Family honor was important, carried over into recent times with the idea of Theodore, Theodore II, Theodore III, and so on. But as families in western culture have more and more shrunk in size and importance, so has the need to continue the family line. Wall Street Journal quoting, “As family names and old religious standbys continue to lose favor, parents are spending more time and money on the issue and are increasingly turning to strangers for help.” Corporate branding is now human branding. Can this be a good trend? Do we know what we are walking away from?
As families shrink in the western world, so too is the importance of the meaning of names for offspring. This is an indication of the level of influence religion and family life is having in our society. Catchy and trendy names are in, traditional and religious are out. The move away from time-honored names indicates a more profound change in culture-------that of the dismantling of the basic tenets of past civilizations: family, God, marriage, and perhaps civil obedience. People seem to want to “toss away” the traditional forms of these long-established and historic maxims as too “stuffy” and “out-dated.” Is a society that is forgetting and revolting against its roots in the naming business be simply another manifestation of a world rebelling against God, family, and marriage? Is the proliferation of the quest to find new names a by-product of a people seeking new religion, new types of marriages, new definitions of families, and new forms of government? Perhaps it’s a stretch to ponder such possibilities. Perhaps it’s not. It might be wise for new parents to consider the age in which we live, and ask themselves, “What are we really communicating to ourselves and to our world by the pursuit to find a special name for our newborn?”
Adrian Valdivia, BBN Staff