Today my mind was wandering and I realized that given names are often like tattoos.
Sometimes a person gets a tattoo just because they think it is pretty image or they align themselves with the symbolism, and sometimes little [name]Aidan[/name] or [name]Emily[/name] were given their names simply because their parents were fond of that name.
But sometimes, sometimes a tattoo’s story can be complicated, allegorical, convoluted… and it is fascinating to learn about it… just as some names come from very deep places.
There is, of course, a sense of permanence, (for the most part), concerning names and tattoos, hence the “why?” being such interesting element to it all.
…just a thought, and a figured a Nameberry or two might understand the notion…
Very very interesting!
I think you have a point, though.
I just got a new tattoo yesterday, actually, and while I was waiting, my friend and I noted all the design books. We were like, "I couldn’t imagine going in and just picking something out of a book. But people do. And people buy name books and flip through until something catches their eye. And that’s fine for some people. That’s how my parents did it (I changed my name, though, lol).
My style for finding names and deciding on tattoos is apparently intense research, an emotional connection and “just knowing”… now, anyway.
I think picking a name is like a tattoo. It can (and imo, should) take time. Names are even less permanent than tattoos, but I think loving them can go in cycles. Like I said, I changed my name. I’ve never felt any connection to my legal name, and a couple years after I got my first tattoo, I was really annoyed with myself and the situation because it suddenly meant less to me. I’ve thought about covering it for years (much like thinking about changing my name) but still haven’t (much like not having submitted the paperwork for changing my name).
I guess for me, my first tattoo is kind of like my own name, where I got it, it’s something I’ve known forever. It just ‘is’. My new tattoo is like how I anticipate going about picking my kids’ names with the research and the gut feeling, nostalgia, hope, wishes for the future. It’s more abstract and representative… even though the first one is a design and the second one is text.
I have 6 tattoos, and all have meaning to me, I didnt get any of them because they “looked pretty” or what not (even though I do like how they look and would have most likely not chosen an ugly tattoo just for meaning). That is how I am with naming too, names that have meaning and are also pleasing in sound and overall impression.
I got my tattoos when I was on the younger side because they were pretty. Now, I wish I would have waited to do something pretty AND meaningful. It is like names! I am glad I didn’t have kids at eighteen because my naming style has definitely evolved.
And this is not to bash our teenberries! They are more mature and have better taste in names than I did!
I see your point and agree with it. All my tattoos have meaning. I hate to see people just go in and pick something out of the books. I was in there getting the owl that’s on my profile picture a few weeks ago and some girl came in and asked 'What’s the Kanji for courage?" the artist shrugged and so she just picked one of the Kanji out of the book.
Another with names and tattoos is that you shouldn’t put something on your child or on your body that comes from a different language unless you A) speak it B) have some sort of cultural significance to you c)You’ve done your research.
I have a Greek word on my wrist but I speak Greek and can read it there fore will have no issues with it meaning something I didn’t want.
Ex – On Big Bang [name]Theory[/name], [name]Sheldon[/name] (who can read Kanji) see [name]Penny[/name] getting dressed and asks “Why do you have the Japanese character for soup on your left buttocks?” She says “It’s not soup, it’s courage” he shakes his head “Well I guess it is courageous to show that level of dedication to soup.”
Speaking of picking tattoos out of books, my husband has tattoos of old flash from the 1930s and 1940s when they only used 4 colors. Some people might see his as just meaningless flash but he did it as a theme plus he does have two memorial tattoos and one for me which I guess mean more but over all it’s not custom work which like naming, seems to be very popular today.
I think too like names there seems to be a level if sophistication and respect when it comes to tattoos now, some are seen as art and others arent.
I think that’s a really interesting idea. It makes a lot of sense. My sister and I fit mainly in catagory two. We haven’t gotten any tattoo yets, but we plan what we want (placement, font, colors, ect). It would be so wierd for us to go to a tattoo parlor and have no idea what we were getting. The tattoos we want are all literary (two of the ones I want are from Howards End by E.M [name]Forster[/name], one is from Persuasion by [name]Jane[/name] [name]Austen[/name], and the last one is from The Perks of Being a Wallflower) and I’m getting them because they have meaning, and because I like them. I’m not sure which ones Amris is getting (I only know that she wants lyrics from [name]Spring[/name] Awakening, and one of the quotes from Howards End) but I know they have meaning to her too. The correlation between names and tattoos makes tons of sense to me.
Are you getting the “we are infinite” quote from Perks? [name]Love[/name] that one.
[name]Do[/name] you know which lyrics from [name]Spring[/name] Awakening she’s getting? I’ve toyed with the idea of getting “all will be forgiven”, but I think I like “life is around you and in you” better from Hair
