Names Before The Obsession

It is very interesting to think about how you see things before you get really interested in a single subject. For instance, I used to find serious reading tedious until I learned to decode the words and themes in a book. Now The Odyssey and it's ilk are more thrilling to read.

I used to look at names differently as well before I found the act of naming important. Recently, I watched the movie Meet Joe Black.The main female lead was named Susan, and my first reaction was " Susan? Really?". To my modern ear, Susan just seemed so dated that it was hard to imagine a leading lady, let alone a love interest for Brad Pitt's brilliant character, to have a name like that. If she had a more classic name,even dated classics like Christina or Jessica, I'd have little reaction.But Susan? I had to laugh when her name was mentioned.I never had that reaction before.
I've now come to think about named I actually liked before getting deeper into name nerdom. These are names that at the least got me to think "That's pretty" or "That's something I'd name my kid" when I didn't think much about them.I had these elaborate reasons for liking them, so I'll include that as well.

Lina: When I was young, my favorite anime series was called Slayers. It's still a classic in my eyes, but I have other favorites.  Lina , as in the hero of this series, was the first namesake I thought "I want to name my children after her". She is a powerful sorceress in the series and a hot-headed spitfire of a character.

Lisa: I thought that Lina was a bit out there for some reason, so I thought of using Lisa while changing it to Lina depending on if the child wanted to.

Celeste: I had a short-term tutor with the name Celeste, and to this day I remember her name. She spoke Russian and went to Princeton .I still love this name, but love other names just as much, and maybe more.

Abigail: I have no memories of who had this name, but I remember liking her name.It's amazing how certain things stick while all the other memories fade away. Abigail, now, is a nice way to honor a family member, but I don't love it.

Now that I've gotten more invested in names, I can see that my choices were a bit random, and do not express my values as much as the names I love more now. I've got more of a style now, and my reasons behind liking a name are more concrete than before. In ten or more years, perhaps my style will change from how it is now. It's going to be interesting to see where my fluctuating tastes lead me.

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