A name is a very important ‘thing’ to own in life. It gives us identity and distinguishes us from one another. Every parent knows what a challenge it is picking out a name for their baby because they know giving a child the right name will bring him to great heights but giving him the wrong one will leave him plagued with endless uninvited ridicule throughout his life – something as they say is a double edged sword because while it may build the child’s character it can also leave him scarred for life with self-confidence issues.
Great names become legacies while not so great names become time forgotten legends. But names are like fashion. Their popularity changes with time and can be admired in one era then disregarded in the next…
In some cultures, we have two names, a first name, a second name followed by our family/surname. In other cultures, they have one official name, and an unofficial/unregistered) name (often an English one) to aid in breaching the communications barrier – ethnic names are lovely but can be quite a daunting task to pronounce/spell/remember for a non-native.
The desirability of names are often driven by the ‘name giver’s’ passion. For example, if a person is religious then it is almost certain he would bestow upon his child a biblical name but if he were a lover of literature, then his child would likely be given a name out of the pages of a Shakespeare Sonnet or the works of another literacy great.
Which got my mind wondering…would green lovers such as ourselves be driven/inspired to bless our children with green names, especially since it is believed that a name can make a child (in this case into a green loving one)? If yes, what exactly do you define to be green names? Those inspired by nature or those inspired by the efforts to fight the green cause?
I mean I know some people who have given themselves quite the ‘unique’ name but would you consider naming your child/pet/lover something along the lines of:
- Recycle
- Ozone
- Solar
- Eco
- Green
Sounds a tad odd doesn’t it? But perhaps if you spun a little ingenuity into it, you could find a name that will work out. Take Green for example. Obviously I’d never name my child “Green” but I would look for a name that carries the same meaning- perhaps Orrin which is Gaelic for Little Green One.
So what do you guys think? Naming children after nature is easy and beautiful but naming them with that ‘eco friendly’ theme is a bit more difficult. Do you know of any ‘eco-friendly’ names to share? Beautiful names that will carry the ‘hidden’ eco message well…
