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!

The Importance of naming a child

What does a name say about the namer? A divorce case was in the news recently, that involved a young girl with an unfortunate name. The girl, aged 9, was made a ward of the court until she could change her name. In his ruling, the judge said: "The court is profoundly concerned about the very poor judgement which this child's parents have shown in choosing this name. It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and a handicap, unnecessarily. She fears being mocked and teased, and in that she has a greater level of insight than either of her parents."

Now, of course we don’t have the whole picture. There might have been many other issues that came up in the proceedings. But, something must have alerted the judge for the parents to have had their parental rights challenged. Yet, raising a child is about being a responsible parent.

Naming the child is part of your responsibility as parent. Naming conveys your love and belief in your child, and in yourself. In the process of naming a child you are welcoming a new person into the world. Your world! Although we don’t necessarily understand the significance of names, many other other cultures do. In these cultures there are still ceremonies performed to give children a name. These ceremonies are a way to honor the child and welcome him/her into the community. Some of them even include methods for naming the child.