What's in a Name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet. " Immortal lines from the play Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare.

You may ask, well, really What's in a name and I would say - A LOT apparently!

I realised it for the first time when I got teased for my name in primary school. A lot of old Hindi romantic songs had the word 'Tamanna ' in them and my classmates had fun teasing me! I was so annoyed and disturbed.

Finally I told Daddy I want to change my name . When he learnt I got teased in class, he told me I must know WHY he named me Tamanna. "Because you were our Tamanna, our wish and desire, sweetheart!" So, I decided not to change it.

Throughout school I never met another person with the same name which made me kinda smug about my unique name. With a lot of pride I would explain the meaning of my name, its origin and the reason for being named so!

Tamanna which means 'desire' or 'wish' is a word of Persian origin. Daddy had taken Persian as a Foreign language and named me so.

When I went to Pune to study Law, most people thought I am a Bohri Muslim because of my name- Tamanna Bora. I never really bothered to explain. The fact that I never put bindis or wore any jewellery, except the pearl earrings mummy gave me, probably added to it.

The most interesting thing happened on my first day at college. There was a lot of excitement about the Freshers and someone kept asking who Tamanna was. I was scared that I will be ragged so I kept quiet. Later on, I heard there were stories circulating about Tamanna Bora who was this really pretty looking girl - tall, fair, smart looking etc. I was really amused because I attended my first week of college with oiled hair tied in a ponytail, bespectacled, wearing a simple salwar kameez since I wanted to be invisible! I never got ragged 😬

The way people's imagination ran wild looking for Tamanna was really funny!

Anyway, since a lot of people assumed I am Muslim (and I never bothered to correct them) they would wish me on Eid and ask for Sevaiyan and Biryani treats! And I would think,"Ah! Time to explain!"

Being an Assamese, my name is quite a mouthful for my relatives, so they all prefer to address me by my pet name. I think most Indian kids have a formal name and a pet name.

God help you if you have a bunch of creative and humorous friends because no matter how beautiful or unique your formal name is or how common your pet name is, they will tease you like hell!!! I'm sure most of us would've gone through this .

My brother in law Arisudan is one tortured soul whose beautiful name gets butchered every time! Hari- sautan being the limit, inspite of him spelling out his name for the other person!🙄

Numerology and Astrology stress on having names that vibe positively with the person's planetary chart and ruling number.

When I was expecting my first child, I really wanted a daughter. I had only one criteria to choose a name for her - something easy for my side of the family to say! So, being born during Navratras, we named her Naomi ( meaning ninth), which is easy for both sides of the family!

Naomi was very sure that she only wanted a little sister when I was expecting again. She had already decided that she would call her Zinnia. So, my younger daughter was named Zinnia.

I remember when Adit and I started seeing each other we had decided we would use nicknames for each other. We had many options like - Aeji, Oji, Suniye Ji! Just kidding!!😬 Honey, darling, sweetheart, etc were too cringey😝 Anyway, we finally decided on Adit and Minnie😍

There's a trend nowadays to have exotic and unique names for children and we are no exception! Our daughters' pet names are Naomi and Zinnia , easy to say and remember; but their formal names are Nityashri (eternal beauty) and Abhieshri (fearless beauty) respectively.

Talking of names also brings me to the selection of a title for my article. I generally like to give it a catchy title which immediately catches the attention of the reader.

I have come across a lot of interesting and unique names lately. It's quite the rage and why not ? After all, this does make the child feel special to have an uncommon name! Although for every parent, his/her child is special and their love unconditional.... and name is no indicator of that love!

The biggest example of names being powerful and effective are the big brand names- like Tata, LG, Maruti, Samsung, Honda and many others. Sometimes certain brands become the product itself; for years the toothpaste was 'Colgate', soap was Lux and detergent was 'Surf' regardless of the actual brand name! Names like Tata, Maruti and LG lead to instant reactions like- If it's Tata, its trustworthy! A lot of brands have actually lived up to their image and claims of satisfying customers with assurance of quality and service.

A name is powerful.

It's your identity in the world.

But the name doesn't make you.

It's you who makes You.