What's in a name

So I have lots of nicknames. Somewhere around 15 to be exact. They range from ones that make sense like 'AJ' and 'Mandy' to ones that have absolutely no connection with my name at all like 'Mousecavich' and 'Abu.' Of course there are some in between ones like 'Mandyball,' 'Buck' (or, if your Margeaux, 'Buck Buck Bucky' - ew), and 'AndyMae J.' But the truly amazing part of all this is not that I'm regularly called each of the above mentioned names (and others), but that I actually respond to all of them. Is that not sad? Maybe I'm having an identity crisis or something...

But my objective was not to talk about my nicknames that number more than the stars in the sky or sands on the shore (sheesh, if I was Jacob's wife the twelve tribes of Israel would all be named after me! Well, eleven of them anyway, I guess he could have one...), but to talk about names in general. Everybody has one right? And even though a lot of people don't like their names (My grandmother for instance. Her name is Doris and she's been saying she's going to change it for as long as I can remember. Oh well, she'll always be Nana to me.) you have to admit that whether yours means something nice, or was invented by your father, or is your grandfather's name (that would stink if you were a girl), or if it just means 'man of the red earth' (sorry Adam), doesn't it always feel good when someone says it? I'm not talking about your mom when she wants you to do something, or your sister when she's whining at you, or you dad when he's disappointed in you. I'm talking about your best friend when she needs you, your teacher when he calls on you instead of all the other people who have their hands raised, your sweetheart when he's telling you how special you are, or someone you admire that you didn't even realize knew your name. See what I mean? Names are special. There's a lot more to them than letters and syllables and even meanings in the baby book, they label you and belong to you and are loyal to you throughout your life. (Unless of course you're my Nana.)