Sunday, May 31, 2009
NAMES
Names are quite significant concerning the meaning behind them. In my case my name is Amena which means in my culture "honest woman". My sister Hanan means "passion" and Sabrine, the youngest means "patience". All three of us have unique names due to my fathers culture and his background. Around here though names like John, Joe, Mike, Christina, Kristin are all very common. Most of them are biblical. For example Kristin or Christina represents a follower of "christ". The thing is though is that those names aren't as common as we think. According to http://www.helium.com, Muhammad is the most common name in the world! A lot of people don't know that. I guess after everyone seen "Superbad" and we all heard "Mc'Lovin" say it now we know. No but seriously, names are greatly based on cultural signifigance. People like myself like unique names with some sort of symbolism. I am named after my grandmother. Its important to transfer down the same name in many cultures. In a way its almost like an honor and respect to take a family members name. As a child I always hated my named just because it was different. Now I embrace it rather that despise it.
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I agree. Just living in the neighborhood that we live in i've heard many unique names. Many people Despise their names, are embarrassed of them and sometimes many change it to the "American Version". These names hold a lot of culture and meaning, and I don't feel like they should be changed. It's wonderful to come to America, but ones alowed to take their culture with them.
ReplyDeleteI think everyones name has a meaning behind it and I find that pretty interesting. I don't know what my name means but im sure there has to be asome type of meaning behind it. But I do know my last name has to do with being rich or some type of gold which I definetely am not rich but maybe rich at heart. But I did know muhammed was the most common name in the world which was kind of weird to me at first but now it makes sense to me because America is the only country with such names as Anthony, John and others. As you go across the world you will see many different people with many different names that don't even sound like names.
ReplyDeleteAmena,
ReplyDeleteDefinitely names that are passed down from one generation to another have more meaning. My grandmother's name is Victoria and my mother decided to make that my middle name. My first name, Diana, stands for "the one who illuminates."
Other countries have amazing names that, like Anthony said, do not even sound like names. It is great to learn about other cultures and their own meanings behind the names that are given to them. Learning new things, regardless of what it is, as long as the knowledge you are getting helps you, it will make you grow as a person.
- Diana
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ReplyDeleteGrade: C