What's in a name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."

Sure it would.  And if it were called something else, we would associate that word with something positive, just like we do the word rose. 

So, What's in a name?  Well, there are the literal meanings of names.  I had an English professor at Purdue named Dr. Dino Franco Felluga (he had a fondness for name meanings and during our intros we talked about our name meanings).  He told us his name meant terrible, crooked lizard from France.  It's hard to describe Dr. Felluga.  On the one hand discussions with him were very entertaining.  On the other hand, he was a bit of a hardass, when it came to grading.  During my semester with him I alternated between feeling very fond of him and wishing him to go to.......  Anyway.  My landlady's legal first name is Edna.  It's Hebrew for "renewer."  Her mother told her it was a beautiful name.  She didn't see it that way and goes by her middle name Elizabeth.  Today one doesn't find many babies with old-fashioned names like Edna, Edith, Beatrice, Lucile, Chester, Norman, Walter, or Eugene. 

Adolf means noble, majestic wolf.  Is that the first thing you thought of when you saw the name?
Names also bear the associations people have built up over history.  It's a rare person who names their son Adolf, now.  What about Gaylord?  It means "high-spirited, boistrous."  How about Richard?  No problems there?  How about a nickname of Richard, Dick?  Plain Jane?  Practical Sarah?  What about Rose?  I don't know about you, but the name Rose conjures up a vision of a good-hearted, but dimwitted elderly woman from St. Olaf, MN.  Now that one's just me, I think, though.  :P  I objected to my husband's choice of Sophia for our second daughter together because it made me think of a tiny, sharp-tounged elderly woman (maybe I just watched too much Golden Girls as a child?) and because I wasn't thrilled with choosing a name that is currently the most popular since I'd wanted names that were unique but not "out-there."  He, and everyone else, appears to think of the beautiful Sophia Loren first.  At least it has a pretty sound and an acceptable meaning, "wise."

Turns out, there's a lot in a name.  While we are often able to overcome any stigmas or associations with our names, it can effect first impressions.  And all of this is more or less dependent on pop culture.

So, why have I chosen the names I have for my Trad/pen name?  I'll start with the middle and last names because they've actually been with me the longest.  I developed a fondness for the name Victoria as a child after my mom told me that it was one of the other names she'd considered for me.  Somewhere in my Let's Pretend games, I devised the name Victoria Michaels.  She was British.  I even managed a bit of an accent to go along with this idea.  If I had any reasons for choosing "Michaels," I've long forgotten it.  Many years later I looked at a lot of names between trying to choose a name for the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism)  and when I read that many Pagans have special names for themselves, for privacy and/or dramatic flair or some other reason.  I came across the name Gwenhwyvar, which is the Welsh precursor to Guinevere.  It fit my interest in things Celtic, had an acceptable meaning:  white/fair/holy(depends on translation) and smooth/soft, and was associated with a woman who loved more than one man.  At the time, I hadn't heard of polyamory, but there were one or two ex's from my past that I still felt a great deal for despite having moved on and being happily married.  When I did discover polyamory, it just made the name even more meaningful.  (Perhaps later I'll go into my views on polyamory, but it's not the point of this post, so I'll leave it for now.)  One full name that I associate with myself is Gwenhwyvar verch Mnemosyne:  Gwenhwyvar daughter of Mnemosyne, using the Old Welsh naming pattern. I've an above average memory.  But when it came up that I needed a pen name, it seemed a bit awkward.  So, I remembered my old alter ego.  But then there's that little thing about associations.  My ex-husband's name is Michael.  Now my real name is the feminine version, Michelle.  Michael/Michelle is Hebrew meaning, "Who is like God?" and the name of one of the Biblical archangels.  Another objection since I've tried to avoid using names associated with the Judeo-Christian world.  But, it is my name.  So, after much thought, I used a French version of the name.  And that's where Gwenhwyvar Victoria Michels came from, what it literally means, and what it means to me.