Names (mildly refined)

"That which we call a rose by any other name would be just as sweet." Would a rose really smell just as sweet if it were called putrid? Shakespeare ignored the fact that names matter. Before his mother ever saw the twinkle in Mr. Shakespeare’s eye, names defined who people were.
Researching the origins of my name, Benjamin, led me all the way back to the twelve sons of Jacob. Like me, Benjamin was the youngest of the family. Benjamin literally translated from Hebrew, means "son of right". Ben simply means son. Benjamin, along with his 11 brothers, led a tribe of Israel. The tribe of Benjamin later fell away.
While personally I believe it to be a slap in the face of your parents to change your name, many have done so. One of the first people to ever have their name changed was Abram. In Genesis 17:5 Abram had his name changed to Abraham. Saul also had his name changed to Paul. A more modern example of someone getting their name changed would be The Artist Formerly Known as Prince. In celebrity fashion he had his name legally changed to . In 2000 he changed his name back to Prince while his career hit rock bottom.
Do names have meaning, or does a meaning have a name? Men and women can define the names they have and mold society's allusions of their various names. Even so meanings behind names and names themselves have been around for about the same amount of time. According to the Bible when God made man he called him Adam.
Adam meant man. Adam gave his wife a name with a meaning as well. He called her Eve. "For she will be the mother of the world," said Adam.
Names have connotations that can be difficult to overcome. A person named Lucifer would have trouble selling life insurance simply because of his name. Names are created everyday. Wendy was invented for the popular story "Peter Pan." These made up names have a habit of sticking due to the lack bad stories of evil people of that same name. Nevaeh is a recent example of a creative father trying to make his child unique.
Some may change their name, keep their name, try to bring glory to their name, but all these will fade away. Your name will no longer exist as yours. The only consolation you have is that you will live on through names you earned. Dad, mom, brother, sister, wife, husband, grandma, grandpa, friend and servant are what the lucky are remembered by.