What is a name?

The proper definition of the word "name" is, "a word or set of words by which a person is known, addressed or referred to. Reading "The Namesake", "Notes from Underground", and the short story, "The Overcoat" all have one thing in common that sparked my interest. It was their names.

In "The Overcoat", his name, which I talked about last post, is-well, it's a bummer basically, let's put it that way. He is forced to live with it for the rest of his life. In "Notes from Underground", the only name for reference we have for the narrator or whoever is the main character in the book is the Underground Man, which really is frustrating! Underground simply gives the connotation that he is away from society and lives in his own world of solitude.

Then I thought of this question. What impact does a name really have on our lives? For me, there is none at all.

My name is Milad. No, I promise you haven't heard this name before here in America. It's pretty rare that someone can get my name perfectly right the first time, so I have to explain it to them. No, it does not mean shit, or anything of negative connotation-in fact in Farsi, it actually means an important birth, and the tallest tower in Iran actually is the Milad Tower, so I cannot say I can understand where Akaky Akakievich is coming from. But my name doesn't define ME. To be specific, my name means the birth of Jesus or Mohammed. Well, am I Jesus? No. I'm not. So clearly, my name doesn't define me, based solely on definition.

Honestly, I believe that the same concept can apply to Akaky or Underground or whoever. While you may be referred to as an unfortunate name, it doesn't mean you are unfortunate (sounds like I'm a motivational speaker, but whatever). Ultimately, names are simply how you are addressed as, not who you are or how you life is or will be.