Making A Name For Yourself
Pic John Delbridge

Making A Name For Yourself

It’s not rocket-science but the name you choose for your child, business or band can make a huge difference to how you are perceived and remembered.

Having the right handle can fire you into the stratosphere of remember-ability, while a poor moniker can leave you invisible against the magnolia-painted backdrop of life. (Bit pretentious! – Ed)

Some of us need a name that makes us stand out from the crowd and shouts ‘Oi!! Look at me!!’ But, some of us would prefer to be ‘under the radar’.

Top names for boys and girls in 2021 were Liam and Olivia - nice, decent names but hardly in the same league as legendary American guitarist Frank Zappa. He ignored the ‘same old same old’ when he named his daughter Moon Unit and his son Dweezil. David Bowie’s son is Zowie Bowie (although the film director now goes by Duncan Jones and who can blame him?).

Before they got ‘consciously uncoupled’ Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin brought Apple and Moses into the world. Jamie Oliver ’s kids are called Poppy Honey Rosie, Petal Blossom Rainbow, Buddy Bear Maurice, Daisy Boo Pamela, and River Rocket Blue. And why not? But, these names are not for the faint-hearted. You can imagine the odd raised eyebrow when the school register is read each morning. Mind you, my wife always liked the name Aubergine* (Yes! Aubergine!)

*Other nutritious vegetables are available!.

I was christened James William Delbridge but most call me Jim, my family call me Jaymer. When I was about 7 I wanted to be called Alan after my favourite footballer, Alan Ball . Apologies to all Alans but that’s not going to set the world on fire. Hats off to local footballer Ryan Zico Black named after the Brazilian legend. That’s much more like it!

Any Pele Le Pelleys please get in touch.

This week Patrick Devaney’s excellent Stompin’ At The Savoy Facebook site featured the Collenette brothers band from the 90s, Eat Your Tea. What a brilliant name! Completely silly of course but ‘genius’! Who can ignore another local band – Foxy Stoat Seeks Pig? I wonder what happened to the Hertfordshire band Baby Baby Baby Baby?

Older readers may remember 60s singing star Engelbert Humperdink. Would he be remembered if he stuck with his birth name Arnold Dorsey? I doubt it!

Of course, businesses also need to stand out. Who could resist getting their mane trimmed at Lunatic Fringe, Anita Haircut, Curl Up & Dye, Shearlock Combs? You might cringe but you’ll remember them. Don’t tell me French Connection didn’t know what they were doing when they rebranded as FCUK.

One of my favourites is the real name of the30th Roman Catholic?Archbishop of Manila . He was instrumental in the peaceful 1986?People Power Revolution , which toppled the dictatorship and ended?martial law under Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines. He had nothing to do with vainglory, covetousness, lust, envy, gluttony, anger, and sloth but, I kid you not, his name was Cardinal Sin. Absolutely true! Now, that’s a name I’ll never forget!

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Cardinal Jaime Sin (pic courtesy of CBCP News)

Finally, the really left field option is to discard names altogether and just have a symbol like Prince.

Prince Symbol

So, I have decided that the time has come to make the big change.

Henceforth please address me as ‘The Journalist Formerly Known As Jim’ or

No alt text provided for this image


What do you think????

Sue Horsepool

Helping people just like me, earn a passive Income, help sack their boss, all through the 'sexiest business' on the planet....TRAVEL!

1 年

Looking forward to a good read next flight then...

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Jo Delbridge

Specsavers Corporate Reputation & PR Director

1 年

Ha ha, what's wrong with Aubergine? Bearing in mind it was before the emoji and its alternative implications!

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Alan Bland

Director at ABB Technologies Pty Ltd

1 年

Apology accepted Jim! Enjoyed reading that mate, hope you're well. x

Enjoyed the Le Pelley reference ??

Julie Perkins

Empowering women entrepreneurs to achieve success that truly matters, staying aligned with their purpose and vision.

1 年

Happy to hear you are starting up again ! Always enjoyed En Voyage articles .. like an “onboarding”, a small welcome back as you flew back into the islands.

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