Category: 31days

Toi Thomas’s 2014 contribution to an annual, 31 day, writing challenge that takes place in October and was created by Myquillyn Smith (The Nester). The history, origin, and meaning of names.

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31days

Day 23- Signature: What’s in a Name? #write31days 2014

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Term of the day: signature: a personal distinguishable mark; a mark of ownership and identity.

Thoughts:

While names, as I’ve discussed, have many significances and can say a lot about a person, the signature can also be a peculiarly telling feature. The way someone writes their name can express so much about them and I’m not just talking penmanship.

When someone signs their name, it’s a mark of ownership. Just as with the concepts discussed in my namesake post, the signature comes with a binding or connection. In legal terms, the signature is the key to controlling, manipulating, and securing one’s identity and lifestyle.

So here are some questions to consider when thinking of the significance of signatures. Does it have to be someone’s full legal name or can initials be use? Is it okay to leave out middle and second names or more? Can a person have more than one signature? Can you have a signature for an alias?

And what about style and technique. What does it say about a person with a thin light signature as opposed to curvy bold one? I’m sure I could dig deeper into this matter, but studying handwriting isn’t my hobby.

Name of the day: Ester.

Breakdown and meaning:

Ester, derived from Esther but not really, means star. So here’s the confusion. Ester is actually the Greek origin of the name that was altered in Hebrew. While the Hebrew spelling was the most popular for a long time, the simpler Greek spelling is just as prominent now. In essence, Ester could stand alone as its root or be derived from the Hebrew root.

In my Eternal Curse Series, Ester is an important supporting character that will shine in the second book. She is a leader and a friend to Giovanni, but she’s closer to “powers from beyond” than any of the major character in the series.

Well, that’s it for Day 23. See you tomorrow.

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Go back to the beginning to see all the posts in this series.

Outside of my own personal search throughout the years, basic meanings and definitions of the terms used here can be found at the following websites:http://www.meaning-of-names.com/, Google search http://en.wikipedia.org/, and http://dictionary.reference.com/.

Learn more here.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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31days

Day 22- Personality: What’s in a Name? #write31days 2014

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Term of the day: personality: individual collection of mental, physical, social, and emotional characteristics.

Thoughts:

I don’t believe there are any names that automatically make me think of personality traits. Even people, who’ve managed to become public personalities, know that the meaning of a name may be contrary to the personality of person using it.

Let’s consider a largely popular Disney villain who’s been given a bit of a character or personality make-over recently. Maleficent isn’t the kind of name that often causes concern over its meaning. While the name has an obvious connection to a word like malevolent, it has a meaning of its own. Maleficent means “able to cause mischief” or “capable of evil”. This name sums up this character’s personality quite well, but recent renditions of the character give her a bit more “heart” and “compassion”.

Now let’s consider Aurora, Maleficent’s object of disgust. Her name literally means “goddess of the dawn”, but that doesn’t really give any clear clues about the nature of her personality. The goddess of the dawn could be like a ray of sunshine brightening the world everywhere she goes or she could be a bold bright light that makes everything else cower in darkness…Who knows?

Name of the day: Iris.

Breakdown and meaning:

Iris is one of those special names, like Maleficent, that has a meaning of its own, but it is also the name used for something specific. It’s a name and a, kind of, personality all in one.

  1. Iris is part of the eye. It is the portion that gives our eyes their color and controls the size of the pupil.
  2. Iris is a flower. The petals are described as showy and the leaves as sword-like.
  3. Iris is a rainbow or a projection of all light waves.
  4. Iris is an old messenger of the Greek gods referred to as “the goddess of rainbows”.

In my Eternal Curse Series, a very special male character will make an appearance in the second book donning this name. If I told you any more, I would ruin it. Needless to say, I think he’s one the most complex characters I’ve created.

Well, that’s it for Day 22. See you tomorrow.

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Go back to the beginning to see all the posts in this series.

Outside of my own personal search throughout the years, basic meanings and definitions of the terms used here can be found at the following websites:http://www.meaning-of-names.com/, Google search http://en.wikipedia.org/, and http://dictionary.reference.com/.

Learn more here.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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31days

Day 21- Label: What’s in a Name? #write31days 2014

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Term of the day: label: simple or short name for a group, category, or classification.

Thoughts:

Some names come with labels and some names become labels; I’m talking about reputation and stereotypes here, but I’ll try to be positive and objective. I would like for you to ask yourself an honest question: “Have you ever heard someone’s names and then saw them and thought the name didn’t match?”

Some names are traditional of a particular culture or race, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t cross overs. It does however mean that people with negative stereotype projections and discriminatory behaviors tend to miss out on meeting other because of the names they have.

What or who do you think of when you here the names: Jerome, Dante, Leroy, Ricardo, Hamish, and Chan.

Now let’s consider Jezebel. Once a perfectly respectable name, it has since become a label, and often misunderstood one, but a label no less. Can you think of other names that have become labels?

Name of the day: Jack.

Breakdown and meaning:

Jack is similar to Giovanni, discussed in my etymology post. Jack is derived from John as a pet name, which in turn in an English equivalent of the Latin origin of Giovanni. Jack means “gracious gift of God” or also “God is gracious”.

In my Eternal Curse Series, Jack will make an appearance in the second book and will, from time to time, steal the show. I look forward to sharing this feisty character (hint hint, wink wink 😉 ) with my readers.

Well, that’s it for Day 21. See you tomorrow.

****

Go back to the beginning to see all the posts in this series.

Outside of my own personal search throughout the years, basic meanings and definitions of the terms used here can be found at the following websites:http://www.meaning-of-names.com/, Google search http://en.wikipedia.org/, and http://dictionary.reference.com/.

Learn more here.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords