What's in a name?

     I've heard of people changing the names of their pets but never changing the names of their children, that was until yesterday anyway. It was in the middle of my average day working the registers when in between a few beeps and a couple of, "Have a nice days," I over heard a co-worker tell a customer that her friend changed her baby's name when he was five months old. 

     I'm surprised my neck didn't snap off with how fast I turned around to say, "Are you serious?" She smiled and said, "Well it's not like the kid will ever know the difference. One day my friend decided that her baby didn't look like a Jonathan and he actually looked like a Thomas." I decided to butt out of her friend's business and ended the conversation with an "I guess so."

     I can't help but think, what happened to the letters on his wall. You know those letters in 99% of nurseries that spell out the baby's name. Where did those letters go? Did they re-use the "A" to cut costs? What about the birth certificate?

     I keep thinking, if one set of parents did this, i'm sure they're not alone. Imagine how many re-named kids there are out there! Another thought is, what if you went from a good name to a bad name? Does that mean the parents thought less of the child. 

     Imagine you start off as Ace, a name associated with winning and being skilled, to a name like Eugene, often thought of as a "nerdy" name. Names are important. I was supposed to be an Ashley, but luckily half of my hispanic family couldn't pronounce it so I became Chantal.