What's in a name?

[fajrdrako]

Names aren't much matter, unless they're the right name. - Elizabeth Bear, in Ink and Steel

This quote charmed me, because it made me think how many of my heroes use names that are not their own. Sometimes (as with Captain Jack Harkness), these names are more theirs than any other. At other time, the chosen name reveals a facet of the personality that doesn't normally show - say, the young Miles Vorkosigan becoming Admiral Naismith, or the young Francis Crawford becoming Thady Boy Ballagh.

And there are heroes with no name at all, like the Doctor in Doctor Who , or the eponymous hero of Stingray - several layers of irony, there, in a show named after a man with no name but only a symbol.

Sometimes the pseudonym is an irony, such as Aral Vorkosigan being the Butcher of Komarr.

Sometimes the name is a cover whose hidden nuances reveal changes in form and perception to be reveale in a greater truth i a greater name - like Shakespeare's Prince Hal becoming King Henry V, or Meagan Whalen Turner's Gen becoming Eugenides.

And then there's the secret identity - examples where the name is known to the reader or viewer but not the other characters. The interrelationship of Batman and Bruce Wayne, or Spider-Man and Peter Parker - where the one identity hides another. And even cases (again, in comics) where the name is not a secret, but the differences between Gambit and Remy LeBeau (or between Wolverine and Logan) are clear.

Comments

[trialia]

*chuckles quietly, as she never uses her real name and only tolerates it from family*

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I hated, and never used, the name my parents called me when I was little - a fine name in its way, but I always liked my full first name, "Elizabeth", and was happy when I was old enough to insist. There are many, many variations of "Elizabeth" and I'm sure I've been called them all. Just as well there's only one form of it I don't like. Bad luck that it was my mother's favourite.

[binkbink.livejournal.com]

I too, detest the name my parents gave me. This might be because they called me by my sister's name when they were being nice, and only used mine when a criticism was coming.
I tried to find a nickname to replace the name they gave me, but though there is a sound I respond to, I don't think I have found my real name yet.
Perhaps my inability to find a name I recognise as my own is like The Mariner, who doesn't have a name because then Death can't find him.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

they called me by my sister's name when they were being nice, and only used mine when a criticism was coming.

How rotten.

I don't think I have found my real name yet.

Are you still looking for one? Do you think you will find it?

Perhaps my inability to find a name I recognise as my own is like The Mariner, who doesn't have a name because then Death can't find him.

What a very cool idea. I must confess, I love non-names like The Captain or The Doctor or The Mariner - which aren't names but function like them, and are descriptive besides.

So are you The Scientist?