This week in Gleick's work The Information, the passage about names caught my attention the most. When an individual is expecting they always strive to pick a name that is original, but with so many people in the world the task can be cumbersome. Gleick states "Names became a special problem: their disambiguation; their complexity; their collisions. The nearly limitless flow of information had the effect of throwing all the world's items into a single arena, where they seemed to play a frantic game of Bumper Cars." Also, a little further down on page 388 he states "Impossible as it seems, the modern world is running out of names." These quotes emulate the difficulty of naming a child something original, picking the name for your business, or naming your band.
Our society is not accepting of two groups using the same name because that name becomes the group's "brand," much like Coca-Cola or Nike. In 1919 this struggle was also alive, so telegraph companies prompted their customers to pick a code name (which they had to pay for.) This continues today with the names of artists and actors/actresses. Gleick mentions several famous names that are associated with one face and not to be replicated by another, for example Julia Roberts. The name is actually very common, but an aspiring actress would be prompted to change their name because Julia Roberts (the actress) already exists and there can be only one. Imagine if this were the case with educators. I have had several teachers that have the same name (since we normally call them by their title and last name alone). I could only imagine the uproar that there could only be one Dr. Blah-Blah in the world, so you must change your name in order to become a teacher. The idea seems silly when you look at it that way.
Another debate mentioned about names is the one of using a location's name as the name of a car or some other object, individual, or company. How can a corporation or individual be expected to pick any name in any language for its own if there is to be constant conflict? No wonder we have odd names for browsers, such as Google, Yahoo!, etc... Certain names have been coined and bought to represent a singular item/individual, and I believe that those should be left alone; however, not everyone or everything can be expected to pay massive amounts of money to "own" a name. No one mentions how the jaguar or mustang felt about their name being used by car companies. I believe that it is crucial for more companies/individuals to develop more leniency towards others having similar names. Honestly we are all just human, and there are only so many words at our disposal now! I feel that the majority of society strives to be original, but after such a long existence does that word really have any credibility in society today?
What do you think? Should we all just start coming up with gibberish to appease those that have already claimed a certain name? Does the idea that anyone with any sort of fame can dictate what another goes by have merit?
As a side note, if you have not already looked into remixing in today's society then I recommend it. Even the major industries have made a fortune on remix, so why should names be any different for the average person?
I understand that everyone wants to be unique – I guess that’s why it’s such a big deal, especially for companies like Nike and Coco-Cola. As you point out, what about the average human being? There are hundreds, if not thousands of Brittanys, Johns, Michaels, and Sarahs just in this country. I will admit, I get tired of meeting someone and their name is something so common. Their name wouldn’t be what I remember them by, at that point. I guess that’s why I’m glad my parents are Pakistani, so I got a unique name. I mean, how many Mahnoors do you know? But I digress. Being creative is an important skill to possess in the business world (or the entertainment world), in my opinion. That’s why there are creative teams: to come up with a brand name, slogans, logos, advertisements, etc. I suppose you could say they’re the underdogs of all the teams.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever seen the Taco commercial with them making fun of McDonalds. There were at least 5 men with the same name as a major franchised restaurant. Using their names to state they love Taco Bell instead of McDonalds. My name is very unique also, however I don't enjoy having such a unique name because if I ever get into so trouble or named in anything I can not say, "Oh, that wasn't me. Fame is not something I wish to have, I'll take the money though. My credibility must stay up to par because the name stands in the spot light and I'm not sure if that affects others but I wish someone had my name. No one should own a name.
ReplyDeleteI did see it! I had actually forgotten about it until you mentioned it, but it was a very useful tool for Taco Bell to employ.
DeleteI believe that company names should be original and that their names shouldn't repeat; it's how we identify their company after all and three or four Googles would make it relatively hard to find the one that you're looking for.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe people names should be singled out though. I've looked up plenty of actors on Google or IMDB and found multiple of the same name. It definitely makes it harder to find the one I'm looking for, especially if that one is not as well known as another, but it's not the end of the world. Besides, we are running out of names. It's getting to the point where, in my opinion at least, some of these names are so ridiculous it's like the parents are asking for their children to be bullied during school. It definitely causes more harm than just naming a child Julia Roberts like the actress.
I agree completely! Some of these names are just so far out there that you wonder what their parents were thinking! I only mentioned Julia Roberts because it was in the text, but I do realize that there are many actors/actresses with the same name.
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