What's In a Name?

Forgive me for this tangent of a blog, but names have been on my mind lately. Have you ever thought you would be the same person if your name was different, or does your name pre-determine what you will be like? Sound crazy? Well, here's an example:

As most of you know I have a twin sister named Carrie. Carrie and I had the great (or odd, however you think it) experience of being born on the front porch behind some beautiful bushes while my mom was waiting on an ambulance. Never thinking twice of this experience, my brother-in-law Tony pointed out one time that I might not be Patsy "the first born", and Carrie might not be Carrie "the second born". He made evident that it would probably be very easy to switch the firstborn and secondborn babies up quite a few times on the way from the porch to the ambulance and then from the ambulance to the hospital. Confused yet? So, what if I wasn't the firstborn to be named Patsy? What if I was the secondborn, and we just got switched? Would I have turned out differently with a different name?

For those of you who are skeptical about a name defining a person, just think about all the time and effort you put in to naming your children or pets. You want to name them something that will fit their personality even though you have never met this person. If you named your child "Butch" or "Bubba" I would imagine that you were hoping for some beefy enormous son that played linebacker and was 7 feet tall. Or if you named your daughter "Sunshine" or "Rainbow" (a little hippy, I know) you were hoping for a loving, gentle, docile daughter. I know these examples seem a little extreme, but you get my point.

The media is all about the correct names to produce a specific image. Madonna changed her name, I bet Cher used to have a last name and so on and so on. They even do this in fairytales. When you think of Snow White, you think of her skin so white; when the name Cinderella is said you think of a girl covered in ashes; Sleeping Beauty apparently likes to catch some zzzz's and look good while doing it. It wouldn't be the same if Cinderella's name were Candace or Betsy, or Sleeping Beauty was called Missy. Would these fairytales be so magical if the name didn't fit with the traits and personality of the person or character?

We spent a long time trying to decide on Mallory's name and then when I came across it in the "Baby Name" book I just fell in love with it. I liked how it sounded in my mind, how it rolled off my tongue, even how it looked on paper. It seemed feminine enough, but not too girly. Then, I saw the root of the word "Mallory" and it means "thorny". Was I setting myself up for a thorny girl? Sometimes she does act a little prickly. Maybe I should have named her something that meant "peaceful", but she might not have turned out like that either.

If you don't think names are important, just look on your bookshelf, I know I have atleast 3 baby name books that people have given me. If you type in baby names in to a search engine, there are a ton of websites that will give you ideas of appropriate names for children.

I think you're getting my point. So, back to the original question: Would I be different if I had my twin sister's name? I honestly don't know, I'm ME now; but it is a pretty interesting conversation piece :)