Names and anagrams

An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging all of the letters of another word or phrase. It’s neat when you look at the new words that can come from looking at names. For example, the letters in ‘Elvis’ can be rearranged to ‘Lives’. It can be spooky, when you see there might be some hidden relevance to the rearranged letters. You’ve probably seen that the letters in Clint Eastwood’s name can be rearranged to form ‘Old West Action’. And, Charlize Theron is an anagram for Razor Leech Thin.

You might be reading a story and realize that the author has made a character name from an anagram! Tom Riddle, from the Harry Potter series is a recent example. Try making anagrams out of some of the names of your friends or favorite celebrities.

You might surprise yourself with the results! You might also create an anagram from your own name and your job or hobby. You could work with something like ‘Joe Smith rock climbing.’ One of the possibilities is ‘Climber Sitcom Jig Honk’. Maybe, Joe should try another hobby!

There are even online tools that can help you to create anagrams. You might learn more about the story behind your name by working with anagrams! Give it a try. Check out the tools at http://wordsmith.org/ and have fun!