What's in a Name?
In a famous line from Romeo and Juliet, Juliet says O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name. Lots of people think she’s asking where he is, but she’s actually asking, “Why do you have to be Romeo Montague?” Juliet is a Capulet, and the Montague and Capulet families are old enemies. Romeo’s name is a problem to Juliet, because it means they can’t be together. Later in that same scene she says What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other word would smell as sweet. She has a point. What we call things is largely arbitrary – it doesn’t change the nature or existence of the thing in question. In fact, everything has many names when we consider how many languages there are which might all have different words for that rose. I’ve had three surnames in my life but I’m still the same person. So what’s in a name? Why are names important? The folk tale Rumpelstiltskin, although popularised by the Brothers Grimm, is thought to be up to ...