What’s in a name?

Not everyone who hates their name wants to change it though. My mother has spent a lifetime opening envelopes addressed to Mr. Gurminder Kala. Weary of the inevitable masculine categorisation this name carries,as a teenager,she attempted to change it to Namrata. She went so far as to changing her school records despite the disapproving principal,but when the time came to put an ad out in a newspaper declaring her new name,she chickened out because she ‘felt like a fraud’. Besides people who want to make an impact in showbiz with a unique-sounding name,what could be a good enough reason to go through the tiresome process of name changing? Even first names carry our family’s story,of our roots and identity. Then there are more practical reasons to consider. Imagine having to explain to everyone you know why you changed your name. It makes sense if your name,first or second,comes with a lot of baggage and unwanted connections,and you need to distance yourself from your past to move on: like the US-born model Wafah Dufour,niece of Osama Bin Laden,who switched to her mother’s maiden name after the events of September 11,2001.

Interestingly,some scientific studies suggest — the simpler the first name,the better the chances of success: so a Jack or John might end up better off than an Alexander. In future,a lot more of us will be changing our names,to distance ourselves from our misspent youth,which is unfortunately recorded in excruciating detail on social networking sites such as Facebook. Already companies check out potential employees’ Facebook pages before hiring them.

Controlling every embarrassing photograph where you’ve been tagged — unknowingly — by friends of friends,is impossible. We’ve not fully gauged yet that we’re living in our very own Truman Show where everything about us is available and knowable by everyone,all the time. Either we start censoring ourselves pronto or we take on danger as our middle name.

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