What's In a name?

“What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.” William Shakespeare uses this line in his play Romeo and Juliet to convey that the name of a thing is irrelevant. A boy named Sue by Johnny Cash conveys that the Boy’s life was ruined by his name being Sue. Does a name carry meaning? Does it influence the trajectory of your life? Or is a name just a name? It is a question that has been asked for decades.

At one Point I had 2 last names. Because my adoption took so long, I wasn’t officially adopted until age 7, I had 2 last names. So, does that mean that either of those last Names would have changed the Trajectory of my life? I don’t think so. Because both were really good last names. Names from good and respected families. Families with good and honorable legacies with decades of history.  

I also used to Introduce myself by saying “My name is Jarred. Like the Jewelry store or the subway guy” because I thought it was funny. But after Jared the Subway guy got found out as a terrible, horrible and despicable man. I changed it to “My name is Jarred. Like the jewelry store. NOT the Subway guy!” Does that mean that the name Jarred has been forever tainted by the Subway Guy? No, I just thought it was an even funnier way for people to remember my name. And it has worked. There are people that I meet and tell them that funny line and then months later when I run into them again they see me and go “Jarred! Like the jewelry store. Not the subway guy!” where before I change the phrase, they may say “Jerry?” or “Jim” or even “John”. I have actually been told many times that I look like a “John” for whatever reason. Which is kind of funny because my mom has a brother named Jon and my dad has a brother named Jon. So, would my life have been different if my name was Jon? It could have easily been Jon, I have been told that my middle name was named after one of my uncles so why not my first. I Heard a story on a podcast the other day about a man named Adolf Hitler. When he was asked after WW2 if he was going to change his name because of the bad things done by a man of the same name. He said “why would I change my name because one man did bad things? I am going to bring back honor to the name and make it a good name again.” Now I tried to look this up myself but I could not verify the story or see if he succeeded with changing what people thought of him having the same name as the big bad man of WW2.  I found similar stories of people having the same names as bad people and refusing to change the name. So, it brings up the question. If a name can be changed bad, can it be changed back good? If a “bad” name can ruin someone’s life like in A boy named Sue, can a “good” name boost someone into a good life? I think I agree with Shakespeare. A name is just a name. The only reason we need names is to separate us from each other and give people something other to say “Hey you”. Growing up I heard phrases like “Your name means something. People are going to remember you one way or another. Either in a good way or a bad way. So do what you can to let them remember you in a positive way.” One of my Dad’s Favorites was “Act like you have been there before and act like you are going back” Your name carries the weight that you give to it by your actions and how you carry yourself. I worked construction with my dad for many years. I saw firsthand the respect that he got by how he carried himself and by the quality of work that he did. My brother had already been working at “J Bros” (the company I still work for) for over a year by the time that I got there. So, they knew the name Buller from my brother. It was known that he was a hard worker and respectable person. So, the name carried weight and they knew that the Buller Brothers were good hard-working men. So, I have a lot of respect for the name Buller that my father passed down to me and my brother. We carry on that legacy.

So, take your name and make it something. If you don’t like it change it but it won't fix anything unless you make it mean something. Give people a reason to remember the name. I am not like the subway guy. Neither am I like the jewelry store. But it gives people a reason to laugh and remember the positive encounter with a guy named Jarred. Hopefully this didn’t bore you too much and I always give you a reason to remember me. And if I ever meet you, I will do my best to remember you. But forewarning, I suck at remembering names…