MissScribe Posted June 1, 2008 Report Share Posted June 1, 2008 You know the old saying: 'You can't judge a book by its cover'? Well, the same is true of a person's name. More particularly, I'm think of an American author I recently discovered who goes by the name of Harlan Coben. Harlan Coben has been writing since about 1995 and although I've often seen his books on the shelves I have never been remotely interested in sampling one simply because his name gave me the impression he wrote dark and violent stories full of 'cops' and 'punks' How wrong I was! Last week I finally picked one of his books up in our local supermarket because it was just a couple of pounds and I was looking for something to read. After reading the blurb on the back of the book (the book was called 'Just One Look) I thought it looked as though it might be good. Dear readers - it was fantastic! So much so that I've since purchased 3 more of his books and have ordered more from our library. Has anyone else ever been put off by someone's name only to discover the name is not at all representative of the real person? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridget Posted June 2, 2008 Report Share Posted June 2, 2008 What a fun question! I've definitely had this happen, though a little differently than you. I knew someone from school who I really didn't like and so their name would bring up those same emotions of dislike. I realized this when thinking of baby names while I was pregnant. When this particular name was brought up, I immediately said "No way, it sounds stuck up". Now, somewhat recently, I've become very good friends with a girl who happens to have that same name. My whole attitude and thoughts about that name have completely changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlourdeau Posted June 6, 2008 Report Share Posted June 6, 2008 My best friend and I had girlfriends with the same name in high school, and when I broke up with mine, he became so disgusted with the name that, try as he might, he just wasn't able to shake the thought of her. Eventually, they broke up, and while he swears that wasn't the only reason, I'm pretty sure it was. Yeah, he was pretty shallow, but it makes for a good story nonetheless... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masterskiller Posted June 8, 2008 Report Share Posted June 8, 2008 A name could tell you what nationality someone is. How old they are or what they like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenkeshi Posted July 10, 2008 Report Share Posted July 10, 2008 A name tells everything, haven't you ever heard of true names of things. A true name in legend, is a name that when known, gives complete power over that entitity or person to the one who knows it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fuchie Posted July 10, 2008 Report Share Posted July 10, 2008 Personally I believed that there is a lot in a name. Have you ever heard of anyone naming their child Lucifer or Satan? Have you ever met somenone having the name Damion? Some names say it all. However think about a Faith or a Hope or even Crystal or could it just be a gender thing? Names have meaning and from what I have seen and known people usually play their lives in that particular meaning of the names they bear. That my take on the whole matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashley Posted July 10, 2008 Report Share Posted July 10, 2008 If I were a boy my name was going to be Damian. I really don't think would have changed anything than say my name was, Tom. I think a name is just that - a name. If you choose to live up to your name, that's a personal choice that you make, and a choice you would have made no matter what your name was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cld506 Posted July 11, 2008 Report Share Posted July 11, 2008 The biggest issues with names that I have found is the over use of the popular ones! As a school teacher I much prefer the more unusual! One school year I had 4 little girls named Jennifer! All spelled exactly the same. Names tend to run in bouts of popularity often mimicking the celebrities of the year. I bet that there are many Ashley's and Brittany's right now! There are also names that do not fit the persons personality, as demonstrated by the first writer. I don't believe that I would name a child Adolph, as an example, because of the connection to that horrible time in history, but that is just me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gurdit Posted July 12, 2008 Report Share Posted July 12, 2008 How old they are or what they like.That I would have to disagree with. Whether I was born 21 years ago, or 12, my name would have been the same, and the name will probably be the same when I'm just about to die an old man. A true name in legend, is a name that when known, gives complete power over that entitity or person to the one who knows it. I don't quite understand what that meant, sorry. Well, anyway, in my opinion, I think it's rather unfair that we attach to so much importance to names, when we are not the choosers of our own names. I have read news reports of people in other countries naming their daughters Metallica, or naming their sons ESPN (pronounced as Espun), and for this folly of their parents, they might probably suffer some ridicule regarding their names for quite some time in their lives. As for me, I am generally not inclined to give much importance to names. Living in India, I don't normally get to hear or meet people with Western or Christian names, and I generally like the few that I do hear. It is for this same reason, probably, that names are just that to me -- names, and nothing more, for I have no real reason to associate them with a characteristic trait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lkbkr101 Posted July 13, 2008 Report Share Posted July 13, 2008 Don't ask me, my name is Kimberly and I found out a few years ago that my dad named me after an old girlfriend. I don't know if he ever told my mom. I have 2 girls, but if I had a boy I would have named him Devon Lee because it sounds like heavenly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammolaw Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 I just wanted to mention that I frequently judge books by their cover. I do it all the time. I'm actually serious. I mean, if it's an author I already know I enjoy, then I'll get the book no matter what, but if it's new, I won't even look at the description if I don't like the cover. Too time consuming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSilentPen Posted August 31, 2008 Report Share Posted August 31, 2008 A name could tell you what nationality someone is. How old they are or what they like. Yeah? Like BARACK OBAMA? How old do you think he is and would he be Muslim? Maybe that would have been applicable in the olden days especially if you were a Jew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Julie Posted September 15, 2008 Report Share Posted September 15, 2008 24 years ago I called my newborn daughter Sorrel. I still love her name. I love the balance of the word when I see it written down. I love how it rolls sibilantly, gently out of the mouth when spoken. We have always grown culinary sorrel and used it in salads and sauces. When friends visited us in the days after Sorrel's birth they each told us of other meanings for this word. The lady who looked after our cats during the home-birth told us that a 'sorrel' is a rare breed of Abyssinian cat. A West Indian friend told us that 'sorrel' is a fruity mixer drink for use with rum. A horse lover told us that a reddish coloured horse is described as a 'sorrel'. Another friend's little girl thought that we had called our baby Cyril ! Since we moved to France we have learned that the French name for the herb sorrel is 'oseille' and that 'avoir de l'oseille' - literally 'to have the sorrel' - is an idiom for 'to be rolling in money' ! Sorrel has had many compliments about her name over the years and once told me how much she loves it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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