The Future of names
It’s high time we introduce names appropriate to the 21st century technological era!
A person’s name is to that person, the sweetest, most important sound in any language- Dale Carnegie, How to win friends and influence people
Names less?
The oldest known name to mankind, inscribed on an accounts tablet in ancient Iraq in 3500 BCE, is “Kushim”. A quick Google search will reveal a dozen financial firms that still go by Kushim, 5500 years later. On the other hand, the oldest known clothing is the “Tarkhan dress”, originated in Egypt in the 3000 BCE. Today, we don’t see any Tarkhan collections at Zara, or Tarkhan catwalks at Milan Fashion week.
Names are the robust elements of culture that have escaped thousands of years of evolution. Like dance forms, art, music, language, human names root from religious factors; however, unlike the former, human names have not been adapted to the technological era.
One reason for this gap can be the absence of the free market’s incentive in keeping names. You can’t buy or sell names; can’t patent a specific human name; can’t get a degree or make a career in keeping names; can’t entertain somebody by keeping their name.
In economic terms, names are non-excludable and non-rivalrous. Choosing names seems like a domestic activity rather than something you go out to shop for, or turn on your TV to watch. Since the 1800s, mankind’s stories have shifted from the individual religious tales to the Capitalism and Trade sagas. Because these tales do not have much room for non-profitable goods, innovation in names has been overlooked.
Over the years, I have observed that families name their children after historical heroes that the kids never learn about, phenomena in nature that they never take the kids to see, Gods or Messiahs that the kid may not believe in, by astrologers / community leaders who the kids may not meet in their lifetime, qualities that the kids may never possess, after professions that the kids aren’t interested in, aspirations that the kids may never live up to, and without consulting them (my favorite one).
While picking names, people give greater importance to religious beliefs, nicknames and nostalgia while give lesser importance to creativity and relatability.
Names, today, are mainly reduced to mere administrative tools. They are something that we inherit, but never introspect about. Why don’t we use numbers, characters, or letters from our native language in our name? Why do we have laws against doing so? Why are the latter objects acceptable in other forms of art and culture but not in names?
Names, till this date, are extremely gender polarized. They are accompanied with gender connotations. However, we are moving towards a society where gender fluidity is increasingly accepted. We have an emerging class of people who identify themselves by different sexual preferences and orientations. How can we expect the new gender classes to adopt the same ancient, gender specific names? We must also realize that most of our names today, are rooted from the core elements of age old religions. Some of these religions never approved of these emerging gender classes, and some have even discriminated against them. In order to respect both the principles of the religions and the new gender classes, we must introduce new names that are symbols of the cultures that the latter has gained freedom in.
Names are given in order to pay respect to our heroes in history — to ensure that the feats our brave ancestors did do not sink in the rising oceans of time and to hope that the next generation does something as great as the former. However, I’d like to argue that by upgrading the naming system or even the names, we make the names of the historical influencers unique! You don’t want the gangster in cell 21 to have the same name as a saint from bible, who spent his life saving thousands of lives. The gangster could be named after something he/she likes or finds appropriate, whereas, the saint could preserve his name and reputation in the Holy Books.
Future and technology are here but futuristic names are not, at least not in the real world. Let’s consider the greatest experiment conducted to realize people’s preference for name: virtual gaming worlds. When people get to name themselves, they don’t choose names based on historical factors or family values, they pick something that resonates with their personality. They pick something modern. They utilize their creativity. They attach numbers, symbols, create puns. They think about it. Although we might have to hold back on the vulgarity and absurdity in the real world, this religion- free, history- free, virtual world gives us a taste of what names today should be like.
Neo-Names
We try new music genres, learn about different art periods, appreciate diverse dance forms, but are never fascinated by the idea of getting a new name. Instead of having our names inscribed on our blank slates when we’re young, names should be the calligraphy on the paintings of our passions. It’s simple: Our tastes and preferences aren’t constant, so why should our names, the main symbols of our identity, be?
Now I know what you’re thinking, naming my child “Vision Smith” just sounds ridiculous. It is ridiculous. Read the last name. More like, change it.
Our last names serve a vital role in building new connections, establishing family credibility, and are a symbol of pride. Dismissing our last name would be incorrect, yet, attaching something modern with it would be inappropriate. The only way out of this is by changing the naming system.
The Clan Name System
Introducing the Clan Name System- a system in which your ancestral last name will become your Clan name while you have the freedom to choose your first, middle and last name or even stick to only one if that’s what you prefer.
The Clan name system changes the way you introduce yourself in a social/professional setting. You now introduce yourself with your first and last name, followed by your clan name if probed to do so. Such a system will not only preserve all the benefits that your last name brings to a table, but also elevate your clan name to a higher stature. Moreover, you get the creative liberty to design your first and last name.
I know what you’re thinking- how can a newborn name itself? To solve this problem, families can pick the first and last name of the child/children, while the Clan Name remains constant (both of them get to a pick name between the first and last name so, that fight is resolved). On the first day of middle school, he/she now has the freedom to pick their own name/validate their current name based on their acquired passion. The children could always change their name in a later stage after a designated time period(say 1 year).
If such a system were to be accepted, you can say goodbye to co incidences where people have identical first and last names. Your introduction could reveal essential elements of your personality. The nicknames that spring up for each person could be more innovative and succinct than ever before! Remembering names could become a whole lot easier, because of the added advantage of relating a person’s passions, revealed by their name, to their physical appearance(this is a technique used by memory champions called mnemonics). The sweetest words for you in any language could finally be words that you choose for yourself.
The biggest challenge with establishing the clan name system would be the effect on the administration system. What will be the legal implications of such a system? How do we keep track of names on financial affairs and contracts? How will Government issued-Legal documents represent the changes in the name? What about our signatures that depends on our name?
The clan naming system would only be possible in a world where the government has completely digitized their administration system. Every document from the passport to all the utilities bills should be available digitally to service the public to have a flexibility in changing their name recurringly. In such a scenario, a simple name update on the government issued document aggregator application could revise the name on every contract, account, and public document ever signed by that person. In order to maintain traceability and search the records of each person, an additional past names tag field could be attached to every person’s digital identity in the application. Besides, the clan name can remain the same throughout our lives to solidify the person’s identity. There could also be a policy in play that restricts people from changing their official name till a certain time period (say a year) to avoid the misuse of the system. Current jurisdiction dictates that signature changes can be done at any point without legal permission, however, it is important to keep the signature the same throughout a financial affair to maintain verification. Another solution would be to base the signature on the person’s clan name.
In the end, it all boils down to the rate at which governments equip themselves with new technologies in the public affairs segment. The power of technology has enabled creativity in many frontiers of our lives. As more and more of the administration system gets adapted to new technologies, conventional procedures could be merged with creative intelligence to turn the once drab systems to games everyone looks forward to playing.
The clan naming system is just one solution out of many that we could collectively come up with to evolve our naming system. It is unfortunate that the current generation is stuck with the same old names, but the next generation could surely be given the chance to explore this element of their life.
Yours sincerely
DreadNought1402
