What's in a name?

That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

- Juliet [Scene 2], William Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet

What I’m referring to here is our given name. What’s the meaning behind your name? Have you ever asked your parents why they gave you such name? Or if you chose your own name, what made you pick what you picked?

Are you curious to find out how many namesakes you have in this world? Have you ever tried googling your name in trying to find out? If you have, how many namesakes did you find? Where are they from?

Have you ever been affected, in anyway, by your name? My high school chemistry teacher’s name is Glyceria. I wonder if, when she was a college student, she thought, “Oh I want to be a chemist, my name sounds like glyceric acid, or glycerin, etc.” [BTW, glyc/o means sugar]. Also, my microbiology teacher’s name is Bhakti. I wonder if she wanted to become a microbiologist because her name sounds like “bacteria.”

My parents got my name from my grandfather. His name was Rosalino. When I was in first grade, I used the spelling R-O-S-A-L-I-N-E but then my teacher told me that that’s not the correct spelling in my birth certificate (instead it was spelled R-O-S-A-L-Y-N). But in my baptismal certificate, it was the correct one. By the time I was in the second grade, thank goodness, they were able to fix it. From then on, I started using the Rosalyn spelling. So what’s up with my name and what does it have to do with me? Well, actually, NOTHING. My name means “pretty rose.” Duh, look at me – how do I look?

I try to google my name every now and then, to find out how many Rosalyn Dasallas are there in the world, but so far, there’s only me. Parents are smart enough not to give an ugly name for their children. HEH. While searching google, I found 3 websites where my name was mentioned [not counting my webby]: The Petition Site (where I signed the STOP animal cruelty petition), The UD Website (in the candidates for graduation list), and The Phi Theta Kappa Website (where it states my induction year and when I graduated for my associate’s degree). I also try to google my long-lost friends’ name and I’ve found about 5 friends just by doing that (note: I don’t have a friendster account).