Proust Quote:
“Words do not change their meanings so drastically in the course of centuries as, in our minds, names do in the course of a year or two.”
Confessions Question:
Your favorite names.
Confidences Question:
My favorite names.
Proust’s Answer:
I only have one at a time.
The Proust Quote really nails this question right on the head. How much you like or dislike a name has a direct relationship to the people you know with that name. How much you like or dislike a given name can fluctuate wildly in a couple of years. It can fluctuate wildly in a matter of moments.
To answer the question what are my favorite names is roughly the same as answering who are my favorite people from this year. I don’t really care to do that, but I can answer this question with broad enough strokes as to reveal anything exceedingly meaningful (as is my style). Meaning if you eliminate everybody that has a unique name (as it applies to people I really know and have made a certifiable decision on their worth) and look at names at the aggregate level, the following is what I deduce.
I know several people by the following names and they all seem to be good to outstanding people:
Sara(h)
Jason
Mike
William
Jen(nifer)
Cor(e)y
Doris
I know several people by the following names that range from outstanding to worthless:
John
Andy
Diane
Linda
Grace
As I reflect upon it, I can honestly say that I don’t think that there is a name that is entirely negative for me. For every doucher I know, I can counterbalance them with a good to great person that has the same name. That is a satisfying piece of knowledge.
I think we've discussed before that we've met very few worthwhile Linda's. The good ones usually make up for the crazies…
Linda does seem to be the most worthless name.
After I thought about it longer, I realized that I do know some Mikes that are at least mid-level douchers.
I should downgrade that name.
We had two Mikes in our class in high school. Both made horrible life decisions. I don't think I know a fantastic (or even middling) "Mike," either.