Here comes the second batch of submissions for The Name Project.

Entries
The History of My Name by Junelle
What's In A Name? In My Case, Names. by Nicole

Observations
The Name Project has had, according to Google Analytics, exponential increase in pageviews. More links = more viewers, so yey. A lot of people have expressed their interest, but, strangely enough, only two entered for the last two weeks.

Errr... Yeah. Two entries. Oh, joy. But, hey, these two entries are fun to read. And since there's only two of them, I'll review them both! Hehe.

Reviews!
Junelle, as it turns out, got her name because her parents wanted to merge their names into one word. Her post is short and simple, and has a comical feel to it. Nice! ^_^

Nicole's entry, on the other hand, is long. Don't be fooled, though: it's not at all a tiring read! The girl with a "beautiful smile" covers all grounds, including her Chinese name, English name, nicknames, and other names. She even mentions her brother's name! (Which is cool, by the way.)

As I said, I enjoyed both posts, and, when I got them, I thought, "Gosh, it'll be hard to pick from this batch!" But then I needn't have worried, since there's only two of them. So I can honor them both! ^_^

Join it!
If you wrote an entry, but have not notified me (and you want to be linked), just post a comment on the project mechanics page (or here), or email me... or something. Hehe. Just contact me so I can check your post. ^_^

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Name Project - Batch 1

Yey! Here's the first batch of submissions for The Name Project.

Entries
The Name Project Submission by Valdz
What's in a Miii by michan
My Names by Renee
Name Project by Daisy
What's in a Name? by juzblue

The Name Project: Sarah Pauline by me!

Observations
All the entries for this batch are really good reads, in my opinion. Valdz went deep into the meaning of his names. (I also would like to mention that he's the first to join!) Michan shared all her web nicks, all similar yet unique at the same time. Renee blogged about all her names in the known universe. Daisy told us how she became the girl who is "twice a princess". And juzblue narrated how her web nick was formed.

There's another entry that I especially liked, but one of the rules was not followed, so I'll save that cool post for a later batch.

Heeheeehee. Entries came in slower than I expected, but that's fine. I found that a lot of my friends wanted to try it, but either (a) are shy that they don't know the origin of their name, (b) are shy about their name, (c) don't want to disclose their name, or the history of it, or (d) just tired or lazy to make the post. Hehe. As I said, though, there's no deadline to this. So if you're inclined to join, you can do so anytime.

Winner
Although I liked all of them (I'm being honest here, I swear), I have to pick a winner, as I had promised so in the contest rules. Hehe.

My personal favorite is Renee's post. Here's an excerpt:

Renee: Internet po.
Someone: Name mo?
Renee: Renee po.
Someone: Jenny?
Renee: Renee.

After I go the PC I’ll be using, it would either have Leny or Reny as the logged in user. Mali pa rin.

What I loved about her entry is that, for each and every name and nickname she disclosed, there came a funny anecdote connected to it. It's such a fun read! Read it, read it. It's amusing, even if you don't know her. Heck, I know her personally, yet I didn't know any of the stories she shared. Thanks, Renee!

Join it!
If you wrote an entry, but have not notified me (and you want to be linked), just post a comment on the project mechanics page (or here), or email me... or something. Hehe. Just contact me so I can check your post. ^_^

Monday, May 28, 2007

The Name Project: Sarah Pauline

This is my post for The Name Project. I know I said I'd give my own post after I give out the first prize, but I changed my mind. Hehehe.

My name is Sarah Pauline. Let's dissect it, shall we?

The meanings
The Hebrew word Sarah is sometimes translated as "goddess", or "high holy one". In the Bible, Sarah is the beautiful wife of Abraham. Her original name is Sarai, which means "princess". Later, though, God changed her name to Sarah, which means "princess of all".

My second name, Pauline is the female form of Paul, derived from the Roman name that means "small" or "humble". In the Bible, Paul is an apostle who preached to the Gentiles.

Ayt. Enough of world history.

Why they named me so
There are four children in our family. My three older brothers and me. I'm the youngest and I'm also the only girl. Thus, I am my parents' "little princess". Thus, I am "Sarah Pauline".

Aside from the "little" and "princess" meanings of my name, there are also other reasons for my parents' choice. I was born about 11 months and something-something days after my older brother, whose name is Jules Timothy Paul. I look a LOT like him, moreso than my other brothers. I look so much like him, it seemed like we were twins. That's another reason they called me "Pauline". The female version of "Paul".

What they call me
I have been called "Sarah", "Pauline", and even "Cada" by the different groups of people in my life. Close friends call me Sâ for short, though. I have another nickname at home: Dnx. It's from my original nickname Dinky, which, most English-speaking people would know to be slang for "small" or "tiny". My godmother named me that. Hehe.

If asked what I want to be called, I'd say "Sarah" or "Sâ".


So yey. I think that's it for my name's story. Little princess, signing out. ^_^

Sunday, May 27, 2007

The Name Project

I've always been fascinated with names. Whenever I meet someone for the first time, one of the first things I ask is: "What does your name mean?" A lot of people find this weird because (a) they don't know what their name means, (b) they don't care what their name means, or (c) they just think it's weird of me to ask what their name means.

I think it's sad when someone doesn't know what their name means, and I think it's just tragic when they don't care. Names are names for a reason. They have meanings, and I think that it makes a difference in who we are.

Don't believe me? I'll give you an example. Have you ever been called something "beautiful", "gorgeous" or "handsome"? How about "stupid" or "useless" or "idiot"? "Geek"? "Genius"? I've been called one or more of those one or more times in my life, and they had an effect on me. If I was called positively, I felt great. If it was an insult, I felt angry, and sometimes even rejected. Now, think about this: what if you were called something repeatedly? Back in college, when my friends and I began calling each other "gorgeous" as we would call each other "friend", we all felt gorgeous after a while! I mean, if someone said you were something everyday, wouldn't you begin to believe it?

The same applies to given names. Names have meanings, and they affect us, one way or another. I think our name tells us what our parents wanted us to be when we grew up. Sometimes, it can affect the way we see ourselves. That's why I think it's cool if we know our names. Although it does not dictate our identity, it helps a whole lot to know what you've been "branded".

Hmm...

I've always wanted to do a group writing project like Darren Rowse usually does. I think I'll start right now. Let's call it the Name Project because that's exactly what it is.

So here's what we'll do:

1. Write a post in your blog about your name. You can write about what it means, how you feel about it, or how you parents named you. You can write about your web nick if you would like, in case you don't want to share your real name, for some reason. In case you want to write about both, that's fine, too!

2. After you've written about your post, link back to this post, and invite your friends to participate, as well. Actually, my original intention for this post is to get my friends to write about their names. Then, I thought, "What the hell, why not try to get the rest of my blogosphere into this, too?"

3. Submit your link URL as a comment on this post, or through email (sarahcada@gmail.com) so I can link to you, too. I'll post a list of every 5 entries. Linklove~ yey!

4. Read other people's posts when the list gets started. I think a lot of interesting stories will come up... And not only that, we'll get to learn what names mean! ^____^

I think I'll sort of make this into a contest/raffle... Every month, I'll select a post, and I'll make a blog review for the author. As for MY post about my name, I'll write it along with the first winner. Ayt? Ayt! Heeeheee.

And, oh yeah: you can submit your post here, too. Remember to include your URL (of course), your name, and the anchor text you would like me to use when I link you.