Day 13- Meaning: What’s in a Name? #write31days 2014

 

Term of the day: meaning: significance, actuality, to be what is intended.

Thoughts:

I get the feeling that most people don’t spend too much time considering the meaning of the words they use on a daily basis and also may not consider the meaning of names. I’m sure thought is gone into the process of naming someone, but I wonder how often do parents consider the meaning as opposed to just the sound, spelling, and or popularity of the name.

There are many cases in history and an almost infinity number of references in religion, mythology, fairy tales, and folklore when it comes to there being power in the name of something or someone. I’ve always liked the idea that knowing the true name of something was important, but also felt that to know the meaning of the name would be so much more.

Consider the story and the name Rumpelstiltskin. Simply figuring out his name was enough to break his spell/contract, but what if there had been a twist using the meaning of his name? What if knowing the meaning of  his name could make it so that he would have to spin for the girl whenever she needed him to, as is typical fairytale lore. Even better, what if by knowing the meaning of his name, the girl was able to break her own contract and one he’d been bound to. Perhaps the meaning of his name could free him from having to serve others and grant him a child of this own…I could go on and on.

Name of the day: Marcos.

Breakdown and meaning:

The Marcos is derived from Marcus or Mars. With Spanish and Portuguese origins, stemming from Roman influences, all these variants mean either “god of war”, “god of fertility”, or “both”. Since origin stories and lore are can be different it’s difficult to pin down an exact meaning for this name. Seeing as how, in my Eternal Curse Series, Marcos is a villain, I tend to think of him more in terms of war. However, I can’t wait to explore the duel meanings of this name down the road. Image the tale I could with a character that at one point gives life and then later takes it away.

Well, that’s it for Day 13. 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/.

---

---

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