In
many cultures throughout the world, a child when born is given a name by his or
her parents. The child has no say in
this name choice, obviously. Later the
child comes know that X is his or her
name. The child and much later, the
adult may not particularly like their given name. I happen to be one of them. I imagine there are many others like me. So, what I’ve begun to consider is a new way to
name a child. What I am proposing is a
method that would allow the child to eventually name him or herself. Yes, you read it right, I’m advocating
self-naming. When I think of all the
names that I would like to have been named, it makes me full of regret, I was
stuck with this one. Let’s see how this
could work.
First,
let’s examine how it’s done now. That’s quite
simple the expectant parents discuss between themselves and with others the
name they are going to give the coming infant.
They may ask their parents on both sides what they think, or their
mutual friends and relatives or even consult books on the subject. Whatever is the case, they never ask
themselves or others: What would this baby like to be known as when it matures
to the point to understand it has a personal noun called a name? This may sound
odd, it is quite within reason to consider what a child would like to
be called in life. And believe it or
not, it can be done. Here is how.
American
culture (any culture) could be modified to incorporate a way to have the child
name him or herself by first assigning a temporary name when the child is
born. This process could be done by a
ritualized event whereby, all those related to the child are assembled and the
parents announce the child is to be named X, and will be known as X until such time that X can understand what names are. At that point, let’s say age 5, another
ceremony will held to allow the child to formally change his or her name. Prior to this event, the child will have been
told from his or her earliest years the name X is only temporary and at some point he or she will be asked to
change it. It will be a momentous
occasion in the child’s life. Like
graduating from high school, his or her first steps or spoken words the child
will be prepared for the event. The
community in its turn will do everything to make the child understand that this
event is to allow the child to choose what he or she really likes as a personal
name. During the years leading up the
event, the child will be encouraged to think of a name he or she finds
appealing and expressive of him or herself. This itself could lead to a wondrous creative process. The child come to know things and images or even occurrences that express their ideas of themselves and incorporate this into an idea of a name which might express this in their respective languages. This is getting so good to me, I gotta write a government official with this idea.
Finally,
the day comes and the child is given full license with some exceptions to
choose a name. Some exceptions would be:
·
No profane names
·
No cross-sex names like boy’s names for
girls and vice versa
·
No verbs as names
·
No names that express offensive ideas
like: Hatred, Beat-you-up, Killer, etc.
·
No nonsensical names like XY12mZ2
All
of the resources to find a name would be at the child’s disposal. At this event, again which would be a ritualized
ceremony, perhaps a respected member of the community would officiate. He or she explains that the child with
temporary name X, will now name him
or herself Y and this will be the
child’s permanent name and any all references to X will be abandoned henceforth.
Now,
wouldn’t that be beautiful! I mean think
of it, you get to name yourself what you want to be called and all those of
importance in the child’s life to that point will actually call the kid
that! Moreover, the legal system could
be modified to accommodate the cultural change.
The birth certificate would list name X followed by in parentheses temporary. In an age of amazing computer technology this
new process of self-naming would easily fit.
A huge database like the Social Security system could be modified by a
SQL script to change the name of the number assigned to the child in 5 years
when the name change is made and reported. The same thing can be done in the Census
Bureau’s birth certificate database.
Much
of human culture is based on the imposition of conformance. Cultures impose upon its subjects a wide
variety of acceptable behaviors. Here
for once a culture can give a member a chance to make a choice. This process could be refined and codified to
contend with errors or mistakes. For
instance, what about a child that can’t choose?
Then, the child can name someone else to choose. Or a child that is overwhelmed by the event
and all those people watching and waiting to hear what he or she will say. He
or she can choose a name prior to the event.
We already have a system in place to do this legally in this country. Name changing happens all time in courts of
the land. So why not let it start from
the beginning?
Ken
Wais 3/13/11