6 of 13

Write now Article Tools

Page 3 of 3

beyond the simple familial link created by my last name; my middle name, Todd, was bestowed upon me at the time when my father's brother, Todd, was seriously ill with leukemia. It was unsure that he could recover, and in an effort to immortalize him in some manner, my parents made my middle name his first. Fortunately, he recovered. However, the name stuck and I bear it still, a silent reminder of the near loss of a brother and uncle.

This concept of immortalization through one's name is an interesting one to me. To some extent, one can truly find immortality through memory: some may live on in legend through collective memory. To simply utter the names, Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Adolf Hitler, or John F. Kennedy is to invoke varied and complex reactions. The one commonality between them is that they all do invoke some recognition; their names survive the test of time to continue to carry a sense of who their owners were, and what they did. This concept operates on a smaller, more common scale as well, through naming one's son after oneself, and adding the suffix, Junior. In this way, one can hope to achieve some sense of continued existence through ones son.

While varied in origin and meaning in its parts, my name, Matthew Todd Dubois, identifies me, both to myself and to others. It reflects my character, but doesn't define it, while tying me to my heritage. While it doesn't define who I feel that I am, it does relate strongly, especially through my surname, to my sense of self. Whether through coincidence or through some deeper medium of which I have no understanding, my name truly does carry deep significance to me in divining who I am, was, and wish to be. A rose by any other name would perhaps smell as sweet, but nothing like the roses that I have come to know.

Learn more about this author, Matt Dubois.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

• << previous page
• 1
• 2
• 3

Add your voice

Know something about The meaning of names?
We want to hear your view. Write now!