That Name (Shame or Fame)

With this psychological knot
It ties itself upon a lot
And defines who or what we are
A career it may sometimes bar
Predictable actions we see
The self-fulfilling prophesy.

This tendency to live the name
Can give the person added fame
In Ashanti, the name is blamed
For types of traits deemed so disdained
And so, Tonsillitis Jackson
With illness, had same condition.

Do names conjure up images?
What name does bring smiles on faces
That paints great picture in the head?
So Harry is a hare you said!
With clout, must scurry or hurry
Still falls right into hot curry!

That name that bears a hurtful slant
Can cause a tease when people rant
And may do harm to self-esteem
When taunting becomes too extreme
Keep negative tags from your child
Or else the kid may grow up wild.

Angels or monsters, names can make
When folks back-bite like a grass snake
Such deadly venom strikes down ego
To hit the ground hard like a mango
A name inflates or blooms like rose
Or falls and shrinks to cause real woes.

© Paterika Hengreaves
2006/Ohio, USA

H. Edward Deluzain in the article "Name and Personality" wrote this: A number of years ago, the newspapers ran a story about a young man who re-enlisted in the Navy during the time he was hospitalized for tonsillitis. Ordinarily, an event like this wouldn't attract public notice. What gave this story its appeal, though, was the fact that the man's name was Tonsillitis Jackson, who, along with his brother Meningitis, had helped his parents care for his sisters Laryngitis, Appendicitis, and Peritonitis (Smith)

In naming the child, St. John Chrysostom gives special importance to naming children after the names of Saints, so that the child becomes attached to his saint's name then the family should celebrate this saint's feast day in a way similar to celebrating the child's birthday.