What's in a name?

I was reading the paper - the real life section, one of my favorites - when I came on an article about children's author R.L.Stein. Next to the article was a photo. Now, imagine my surprise when it was a photo of man considering for a lot of years I've assumed that said author was a woman!

You know what happens when you assume...

Somehow that name for me was always associated with a woman.

It got me thinking about names, though, especially since several of my friends have recently had babies for which they were choosing names.

What is in a name?

People agonize over what to name their children. Not only do they want to find a name that sounds good but one that is fitting for their child. Once the deed is done, people will make judgment calls like "oh that name is so fitting," "i wouldn't have guessed you to be an Albert" or "she doesn't look like a Mary" as if the name itself carries some sort of, well, something. There's all sorts of books written on the historical background of names, characteristics tied with certain names, Bible verses names are tied to and the astrological meaning of names based on the number of letters they contain. Okay, I made the last one up, but you get my point.

I do think that there is something to this whole name thing I just don't know what.

Biblically, names were quite significant. Names were very carefully chosen and a change of names often followed some sort of significant life event. I guess what I'm wondering is if some of that significance is carried into our current names, even if we might not be fully aware of it.

Is there power or significance in a name?

Do I come to "fit" my name or does it "fit" me?

Other than being the handle by which I will be known by for the rest of my life, what is the significance of a name?

I'm pretty attached to mine. I guess I'm just wondering.