10.29.06
If I was called something else???
What is in a name?
Identity?Attitude?Expectation?
I’ve been frequenting a blog for a long time. This blogger lets say nick name xyz spells freedom to me.Gives me hope, makes me laugh,cry.I see a strong determined person behind that blog.Some one who is ready to take on the world.Some one who isn’t afraid to accept what they are.Even use it to their advantage.
Then I recieve a comment from xyz.I was thrilled beyond belief.For those few moments before I could get to the comment several emotions passed me by.I have felt one with this blogger for so long that today it felt like we were finally going to meet in the blogworld.
It wasn’t them.But some body else with the same nickname.I was disappointed, because xyz had come to mean some thing to me, and I didn’t really find that in this other blogger.
Is there any logic to this disappointment?
Ever heard of people discussing this person is a very Alex kinds or a Jane kinds may be in the Indian set up, a very Alok or Swati kinds..
Do people attain a characteristic just because they are called by a particular name.Would they be different people if they had a different name.
If I suddenly changed my nickname from EU to lets say crazy-whacky-nutjob would I suddenly develop a sense of humor or sound less stuck-up.
I wonder.
lazy leo said,
October 29, 2006 at 3:56 am
hmmmm….interesting thought…would I stop being lazy if I changed my nickname???
educatedunemployed said,
October 29, 2006 at 3:58 am
Lazy Leo:
No some things are pathological beyond repair..:p
San said,
October 29, 2006 at 4:34 am
why the hell are you up so late??
what’s in a name .. hmm let me go and think about what’s in my name. Oh and if anyone thinks of the answers before me send me a postcard .. oh the name’s sangeeta
educatedunemployed said,
October 29, 2006 at 11:44 am
San:
A Sangeeta types is a category too you know…:p
Am a night owl.Insomniac in more technical terms.
Rohit Talwar said,
October 29, 2006 at 11:47 am
I wonder too. I noticed a change in the kind of comments I used to get on my blog as soon as I changed it’s name from Baffled Up to Perspective. I think it’s psychological!
lazy leo said,
October 29, 2006 at 5:09 pm
EU: you know me so well!!
--Sunrise-- said,
October 29, 2006 at 5:31 pm
i am intrigued about other people’s blogs by their names… i came to your blog in that manner… there is nothing in a name, in comparison to the whole person behind that name… but in the blog-world, it does create an impression…
when i look through comments on people’s blogs… i randomly click on the names of the bloggers that intrigue me… sometimes it is based on their names, and sometimes based on their comments that make me want to find out more about them…
but i don’t deny that the name does create an impression on me… even if it is only momentary…
Spew said,
October 29, 2006 at 6:26 pm
think you have something here..there’s definitely an air that a name gives.. I used to think of names a symptom..of how the namer (what he/she has made his/her name into..sometimes an extension of his/her personaility)..reflective of how one sees oneself.and also how one’d like to be seen by others….but am not sure that’s all there’s to it..
educatedunemployed said,
October 30, 2006 at 12:54 am
Rohit Talwar:
I think one comes to expect a certain some thing because they percieve everything in their own way.
LazyLeo:
Yes maam, to that I’d agree.
Sunrise:
So you really think a Rahul Gupta doesn’t sound sexier than a Debashish kundu or more glamorous? of course it can be totally off mark, but a name does not make any impression on you? I agree in the blogworld, a nick name a blog name..does become the portal of impression making.
Spew:
Correct me if I have understood you wrong.You think that the name one gets from parents gaurdians are actually an extension of the personality that parent/gaurdian wanted to impart to this person.
Spew said,
October 30, 2006 at 1:55 am
No no! was trying the argument on assumed names only but now that you mention it, it makes sense!
Gaizabonts said,
October 30, 2006 at 5:49 am
Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls:
Who steals my purse steals trash . . .
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.
greensatya said,
October 30, 2006 at 6:06 am
I think people don’t develop a characterstic just cause of their name. It is we, the second or third person that make a whole personality of a person, based on their name, blog, etc. That might or might not come out to be true. But as long as we don’t get to know the real person, our image holds true.
Appu said,
October 30, 2006 at 1:02 pm
yeah, we have heard of beggars called daulat khan etc. its we who give a meaning to our names.
Gangadhar said,
October 30, 2006 at 5:30 pm
EU..a better choice!!
educatedunemployed said,
October 30, 2006 at 7:44 pm
Spew:
A-ha!
Gaizabonts:
Is that what you think too?
Greensatya:
Quite possible.
Appu:
Hmmm
Gangadhar:
Yeah I like EU too.
Deepa said,
October 31, 2006 at 12:08 am
Hey ! Chanced upon ur blog today ..i know what u mean about this name thing…i used to do that too…it’s silly though..if i had kept persisting with the idea, I would never have married the guy i did - Knew a guy called X (since I don’t want to do any name slinging), and despised all X’s coz of him..turns out the man of my dreams is called X ! Huh!
Anyway, that sort of name- expectation is unfair coz our name is what our parents chose it to be…now if ppl judged us on what we decided to call ourselves, that would make sense to me! I’d probably call myself- Little Miss Muffet..it’d be interesting to know if ppl think i have a little girl lost inside me or if I’m simply afraid of spiders!
educatedunemployed said,
October 31, 2006 at 12:43 am
Deepa:
Ha ha I know what you mean.It isn’t so much about judging a person, but coming to expect a certain personality because we tend to make associations.Like Anurag Basu the quiz master..you just think of an intelligent man when you hear Anurag.Just an example.
karuna said,
October 31, 2006 at 2:32 pm
I do it all the time, like a smitha is more bitchy than nice etc etc. I’ve even renamed people because they werent thier names but ive figured that i jsut associate the name with the personality type of someone I first associated with the name and so its not really the name that defines the personality type but the person who was first associated with the name and so I dont think the name changes a thing.
Im guessing u werent really looking for an explanation but anyway.
Biju said,
October 31, 2006 at 4:12 pm
that’s an interesting thought there! Yes, i sometimes do click on interesting sounding nicknames. But beyond that I don’t think I’m much influenced by the names, expect that I know a lot of people only by their nicks
Grey Shades said,
November 1, 2006 at 11:12 am
Well a name is all you got here in Blogosphere and the mind will subconciously form an mental picture… So yeah I think the name here does matter!
shruti said,
November 1, 2006 at 6:48 pm
name is ur identity…
when someone calls you with particular name you create a special bond with that name…
without ur name how you can be recognized..
Pratik said,
November 1, 2006 at 9:53 pm
I think in general there may not be a great deal to think about this. However, a name can make a difference to other people’s perception when it is unique. EU, for exampple, is more intriguing than Pratik if I were to simply see these names on blggers’ list.
I am not sure if you have read Freakonomics, but Steve Levitt has an entire chapter dedicated to names - especially african-american names!
Casablanca said,
November 2, 2006 at 8:05 am
Yes its weird… but we do categorise names. Like I always think people with the name Rahul will be cute. Dont ask me why. Or Sonia will be pretty. Laugh now, laugh at me :p
sharda said,
November 2, 2006 at 10:02 pm
I believe that people need time to find out your personality just .So “name” and “appearence ” are the first things which give an idea about what kind of a person you are.May be later the same won’t be true.So I think ” name ” realy matters.
A very comprehensive post.
educatedunemployed said,
November 5, 2006 at 1:45 am
Karuna:
Changing some one’s name is rather extreme don’t you think??? *shocked look*
Biju:
What about out of the blogworld.Doesn’t a name give you a first impression?
Grey Shades:
Exactly about First impressions, and you don’t think that holds true outside of the blogworld?
Shruti:
You touch upon the other aspect of a name.What does one associate his identity with?His name?Work? I was thinking of writing an addendum to it.
Pratik:
Are you saying that some one’s name be it here in the blogosphere or out of it leaves no impression on you whatsoever?
I did start reading Freakonomics but didn’t last 5 pages.I don’t think I have the aptitude for such books.
Casablanca:
No no not laughing..Exactly the point of my post.*cackles*
Sharda:
I do agree that names also help form first impressions or opinions if you may.
Also I’ve been told that it is a very imcomplete post and I now agree.
n said,
November 5, 2006 at 11:14 pm
i always thought
EU = crazy-whacky-nutjob
hahahahhahahhahahahhahaa.
sorrry yaar. i am going now.
educatedunemployed said,
November 6, 2006 at 2:54 pm
N:
What can I say, you’ve thought wrong for a very long time…:p