I’ve always wondered whether I actually suit my name, what does it even matter? We spend so much time and effort choosing the right name for our children, selecting the name which not only sounds right but has the correct meaning and sentiment for our children throughout their lives.
Whilst I’m aware that according to biblical tradition my name technically means ‘ewe’ or lamb signifying innocence, I’m not entirely convinced as I’m far from innocent therefore proving that the biblical, mythical or whatever other meaning behind a name doesn’t matter a jot!
I clearly remember the rhyme featured on a ‘name meaning keyring’ that I was given back when I was five or six years old; “Innocent as a little lamb, you have no devious master plan. Your thoughts are pure, your mind is clear, you really are a little dear” …
My thoughts are far from pure and mind is certainly never clear so as far as the above goes it was obviously utter bull. As for master plans, I’ve never really had a plan and if I’ve ever tried to put one together it’s never been carried out successfully.
If my name were to be broken down according to the letters, I have a feeling that it’s true meaning may be a little more like so…
Real
Anxious
Creative
Humerous
Eccentric
Loveable
Over the years I’ve come to associate myself with my name ‘Rachel’ obviously given that I’ve spent thirty-four years walking this planet labelled as so. I guess I feel like ‘a Rachel’ whatever one of those is, although whenever I’ve met another Rachel they’ve never been quite the same as myself or shared any similarities as such.
I’m happy with the name that I was given which is always a plus as I’m stuck with it! I can only hope my children are as content with the labels that we chose to place upon them. E was named after my late Nana who died back in 2007, we then chose a seasonal based middle name to add reference to her birth date.
J on the other hand was named as so purely because I took a shine to that particular name, I then added my late brothers name as his middle name. Put together his initials also seem to work well as a nickname should he ever fancy using it as so.
Both of our children can either shorten or alter their name a little as there are variations upon their name which should they wish to they may use when they grow older. Either that or they may wish to swap to their middle names, either way so long as they are happy what does it really matter?
We may place labels upon ourselves or others but really, nothing can ever be placed into a box or labelled as each of us are unique. We may share a few similarities with each other but there will only ever be ‘one’ of us and for that reason we should embrace our differences and do away with any labels as what why should a name really matter anyhow?
