"A human being's name is a principle component of his person, perhaps a piece of his soul." -- Sigmund Freud
When it comes to Second Life, we have an endless possibility for names. For those of you who came in pre-2010, then you had access to a completely unique identity - the option to choose a first name, and last name from a list of preset surnames that changed from year to year, to keep the population unique. Once last names were removed in 2010, and the third-party registration sites were eradicated in late 2012, residents that came in were forced to adopt a series of 'x's, numbers, and other strange identifiers to keep their names unique.
In real life, we don't really get to choose our names. They are given to us - perhaps because they have a special meaning in our families, perhaps they have a special meaning to our parents, or maybe your mother just thought it sounded pretty. Either way, the name you are given is what you are stuck with, unless you wish to legally change it.
In Second Life, however, the advent of display names has helped to keep us unique. Changeable every week if we so choose, we can set pretty much anything we want, up to a point.
As we reach the midway point of International Celebrate Your Name Week, Wednesday March 8th, 2017 marks "Discover What Your Name Means Day". In light of this, I'm going to go over a few different names that I've adopted over the years, and why each speaks to who I am as a person.
- Tiviyah - My SL name actually came about in an interesting way. Back when online roleplay was mostly done in forums, one of my characters in Gaia Online was named Tivia. To be honest, it's been so long since I've played her, I kinda forget most of who she was, except that her basic characteristics and personality were based much on myself as a person in the real world. When I made this avatar in SL - not my first avi, mind you - I tried to use "Tivia", but with the resident system in place, that was already taken. "Tiviyah" came about as the result of experimentation to get a name that was spelled differently enough that I could use it, but was ultimately still pronounced the same. Because of that, it doesn't really have a true meaning, but it is very near and dear to me.
- Samineh - My display name comes from my roleplay time in SL. It was a name that was given to me during that time, and while I don't roleplay there any longer, its meaning was special enough to me that I saw fit to keep it in my general, every day SL. When the name was given to me, the person who gave it mentioned that the meaning was "delicate thing", however that I should not take it as an insult. "Don't be deceived, because sometimes the things that seem easily broken are the strongest of all."
- Big Sister Enigmatic - This name was something suggested by me during pledging, but was ultimate chosen by my big sisters. For those that know my own personal blog, you know it's titled "Alexithymia", which is an inability to properly express feelings and experiences in words. I have been a bit plagued with that most of my life, and so when I first rushed Eta Sigma Delta, they asked us to describe ourselves in one word. I said 'Enigmatic', because I couldn't use just one word to describe every aspect of my personality.
Now it's your turn! There are plenty of sites on the internet that will help you determine what your name means, whether it's the first name you chose in SL, or your RL first name. Or maybe the name doesn't have a traditional meaning, but like Tiviyah was for me, it holds a special place for you.
Also, Celebrate Your Name Week is an entire week of different activities, so make sure you finish out the week celebrating your name, and who you are!
- Thursday, March 9th: Nametag Day - Today's celebration of names stipulates that wherever you are, whatever you're doing, you wear a "Hello I'm [insert name here]" nametag. In a playful mood? Rename yourself for the day or just wear a name other than your own!
- Friday, March 10th: Middle Name Pride Day - Today's name celebration requires honesty, and possibly some courage. Tell your middle name to three people who don't already know it. "Have I ever mentioned that my middle name is..."
- Saturday, March 11th: Descendants Day - Climb into your family tree! Jiggle some branches. Start piecing together your personal history via one of the world's most intriguing hobbies: genealogy! Discover the names of the branches of your family tree. There are some fascinating name puzzles just waiting to be put together!
Thank you for celebrating your name with us at Eta Sigma Delta!
Because I am the fashion blogger that I am, you'll find the credits for the things I'm wearing in this post below.
❤ Samineh (Tiviyah Resident) aka Big Sister Enigmatic
