What is your middle name? Does it carry any special meaning/significance?
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.”
William Shakespeare
Are names really irrelevant?? Have you adopted a dog ? And renamed it in the process? Does it respond? Initially you may have no reaction, and eventually with a lot of training and treats, you may elicit a response. I’m confident if you do the same with humans, it may just work. I haven’t personally tried to change a dog’s name or my name, but the sheer number of adverts announcing name change in the newspaper makes me realise that a name change is no big deal.
When I was thinking of names for the kids, I always used it along with the spouse name, as that was how the name would get registered in the birth certificate. I tried it with a middle name, but always felt it sounded like two first names followed by father’s name. And realised that this was probably why my parents did not give us middle names. I don’t know if this really was the reason, but with my long first name and equally long father’s name as a surname, even adding a letter for the middle name would ensure that I create boxes on all the government documents I filled. And if you know government documents, they don’t like hand drawn boxes to accommodate extra letters.
I have a long and interestingly spelt first name. And I have written about it earlier. Traditionally, I take my father’s name as my second name, as we don’t have a family name. So, for me that would be Krishnamurthy. Post marriage I actually had the option to take my husband’s name, but considering the amount of drama that involves wrt documentation, I chose to keep things the way they were. However, at some point, I listed the spouse name as a second name. So not really my middle name. But a post-marriage husband name acceptance thing; so put that as name2 followed by father name. Apparently, with a marriage certificate, it’s accepted to use the spouse name as part of your name with minimal paperwork. However, I have since dropped the spouse name, because I don’t want to go through the minimal effort and chaos that usually follows an identity change, or taking on a new name. I respond to my first name, and honestly, that’s all matters. So, for me, if you call me by any other name, I won’t respond. This rose remains a rose. And don’t forget the thorns.
Krishnamurthy really means, Lord Krishna’s Idol– Krishna is the name of a Hindu God an avatar of Lord Vishnu. And Murthy means idol. So my full name, first name and last name, Pratignya – Krishnamurthy would really mean, Oath / Vow – Lord Krishna’s Idol. Doesn’t seem to make much sense in English. And makes less sense in Sanskrit as well, because they are all first names not a sentence that’s supposed to have a meaning. My first name is always usually mispronounced because it’s unique. It’s also spelt wrong. And I’ve even had instances where a close more common name is used as a substitute. And this is why I can reassure you, that call me by any other name and you won’t see me respond.
I’ve always wanted a middle name, because I felt that it would be the name I would identify with. So through my childhood, I tried to convince my mum to put down my nickname or the name I was called at home as my middle name. Then that would make my name, Pratignya (middle name/nickname name/or even a third new hip name) Krishnamurthy, giving an easier alternate name option for usage. Thankfully, she never accepted it. So I remained Pratignya all my life. I’ve made the changes, requested and taught the correct pronunciation to those that matter, and even owned it, like I should have since I received it. And for most of my adult life I was possibly the only Pratignya in my city. However in the recent past, I’ve realised that there is a pratignya studying in a university in the north, her college receipts come to me. There is also a pratignya taking care of a sustainability initiative in a company and her investment details come to me. There was a pratignya who requested some random song to be played on the radio when I was driving, and it was not my genre of music. While I have supposedly suffered through the ignominy of having a unique name, it becoming common and me receiving random emails on their behalf makes me wish for the rarity that I lived through in my childhood.
I am grateful that mum put her foot down and did not let me change the name or add a first name-nickname -as a middle name, option to me. As sensitive as I’ve been about the name growing up, and as much as I like being known by a smaller more hip name, I prefer Pratignya to be the professional-outdoor-more formal name. It’s a definite ice breaker, a way to start the conversation and the easiest way to ensure a smaller frown from the person entering my name in the system.
Just a little more 