What's in A Name?

Name is our first and essential identity we have. Everyone called us the same name when we were kids, but soon we got to our own communities, our friends and enemies when we went to school and played in our neighborhood. And as we became the part of our societies and friendships, sometimes we got our own nicknames, sometimes it was meant to be some kind of insult, they called us by our bad habits, our disabilities, our worst body parts, or even our parents' misspelled names.

Take my brother for example, he's called Agung since he was born, on school, and yet it's the only nickname he's got. But, when he went to college and lived in a boarding house, his friends called him 'Bendot', taken from the name of a long-bearded goat, and my brother used to have one. Well, what kind of name is that ? you are referred to an animal ? Still, I have some kind of trouble about my nickname. Since I was a baby, everyone called me Cicip, and it's not related to my real name (a good one I must admit) in any way. There's a long story about that name, back to when I was born and my father wasn't around because he was back in college in Jakarta (I was born in Demak, about 500 kms east Jakarta) and I started to give my mother big trouble. I couldn't sleep at night, just cried and cried, keeping my mother and my grandmother busy of taking care of me. After (around) 40 days with no improvement, I was taken to a medicine man, or a psychic (I won't say witch!!) and given some kind of therapy called "Spilling Therapy". It is said that I gave the psychic a hard time (stroke back!!), so I was given some kind of 'curse' that I would be a quiet grown-up, quieter than my father (how would he knew?) and I must had my name changed to Adisucipto, cause my real name is considered to be too hard for me to handle (!). That's where I got my nickname, taken from my second name. I guess it was my father who changed back my name after he graduated (thanks, dad), and as a tribute, my nickname is kept until now. That's it, pretty long and scary, ha ?. In elementary school, everyone still called me that. After I got to junior and senior high, I must get used to be called by my real name, though in my closest folks still called me by my nickname. When I attended college, I was introduced to my boarding parents by my nickname and my housemates call me that, too. But, still I get this new nickname from a girl, not my girlfriend (I don't have any), when we did part-time job at Telkom, she called me Cipi, and later anyone calls me Pak Cipi (where the hell is that prefix came from ?) and since I spend most of my time among my housemates younger than me, that nickname just fits in. And then one of my juniors called me Cipong (damn, how can he be ?), luckily it's not so popular as the other one. I just enjoy it, at least they don't call me with a nickname taken from animals or vegetables or any other dirty words. But, then again, what's in a name ? A rising movie star or popular singer sometimes changes their names in order to gain popularity, in term of 'luck' or simply 'easily spelled' and 'nice to hear', but, sadly meaningless.

Wise men say, only fools rushed in... oops... that a name reflects our parent's or our namer's wishes of us. There's many reasons our parents or whoever named us gave it, such as :

1. As an honour or tribute to the one they admire or worship, such as their ancesters, their idols, their inspirations, or even their ex-lovers (!). By giving us their names, our parents hope us to follow their lead and become just like them.
2. As a maintainer of a clan's name, usually in western's society, their childs uses their family name for their last name, or simply copy their father's name and put 'jr' on the back. If this 'jr' have kids, the kid will have the suffix III, and the grandson with IV and so on and on...
3. As a metaphor, usually used here. The words used as a child's name taken from a foreign or traditional language that widely used and known. The name doesn't necessarily follow the family name (if there is one) or the parent's name, as long as it's easily spoken, beautifully heard, and have a deep philosophy.
4. As a status symbol, usually used as a second name or a stage name, taken from a string of meaningless words that easily spoken and remembered. Just as their world, their name can be legendary or just easily disappeared and forgotten.
5. As a memory of an important moment taking place on or around our born date, or a moment in our parent's life. For example, a child who was born on Independence Day or at the time there was a big disaster such as flood, exploding volcano, fire, or war. It can also be the child who was born when his or her parents were in trouble and struggled for their life and since then their life got better and better or else.
6. The last one, is totally simple, as a child's name. So, our parents gave us our names just to diffrentiate us from other people's child. Well, if you find it strange I can show you that in the villages people give their child with a single name only, such as Paijo, Tukinah, or with a better name such as Sutrisno, Mulyono, Ponirah, just to be different. Interesting, isn't it?

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