What's In A Name?

"That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet." -WS

Seeing Stars (Wars & Trek)

Names are more than just labels; they are powerful symbols of identity, culture, and personal history. They serve as a fundamental aspect of our social existence, influencing how we see ourselves and how others perceive us. 

From the moment we are born, our names become a central part of our identity. The process of naming can be deeply personal. Parents may choose names based on family traditions, religious beliefs, or personal values. I know quite a few people, for example, whose middle name pays homage to a revered family member or friend. 

All that being said, my children’s names are not rooted in family tradition, heritage or personal values. Sure, I could have given them traditional German names like Klaus, Paul, or Maximilian, to point to their German lineage. Instead, their names can be attributed to their dad’s creativity.

My oldest son is named Warren Skywalker Pierce. His dad’s favorite band is a jam band called ‘Wide Spread Panic’; hence, WSP.  That was the starting point to find his first and middle name. All I knew was that I wanted him to have a strong first name. The name Warren was originally an English surname that meant Guard or to protect. Perfect. Warren is currently (2023) #304 in U.S. births. 

His middle name is Skywalker. Yes, the fictional surname created by George Lucas for his character Luke Skywalker, from the original “Star Wars” movie. But when I think about my Skywalker, I never think about Luke Skywalker, I think about Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi Knight who falls to the dark side and becomes Darth Vader. I like to tell my son that we all have the capacity for good and evil within ourselves and it is on us to choose which path to go. Interestingly enough, my Skywalker was always fascinated with the villain in the stories. Make of that what you will. Not surprisingly, Skywalker is not even ranked in the U.S. birth charts.

When my youngest son came along, his dad wanted to continue with the Star Wars and/or Star Trek theme. In keeping with the theme, my son is named after the fictional character in Star Trek, William Riker, who is also commonly referred to as “Number One”. He’s the first officer of the USS Enterprise-D under Captain Jean-Luc Picard. My only condition was that each child had to have at least one “normal” and common name. So we settled on Wyatt. 

That’s how we ended up with Warren Skywalker and Riker Wyatt. Warren’s fourth grade English teacher completely embraced Warren’s middle name and only referred to him as Skywalker in her class.

Meanwhile, I never even got a middle name. I am just Nicole. Simple, like me.

Namesake

I’ve always taken an interest in names. Maybe it’s because my own name is so unique that I’ve found the process of choosing names a very creative and exciting one. I love learning what names mean, origin stories, if and how any nicknames came about, spellings and pronunciations, and how people feel about their names. Do they feel their name suits them or would they have chosen a different name for themselves? 

I didn’t know my boys would be boys until they were born which meant we decided on names for both a boy and a girl prior to each delivery. Before Julian (my oldest boy) was born, my husband and I looked through hundreds of names, even downloading a shared baby name app and swiping left or right to see which names we could agree on as possibilities. Nothing really stuck out. I felt like when we decided on a name, we would just know it was the right one…but after many conversations, we still weren’t having our “ah-ha” moment. 

Finally, we sat down at our dining room table for more discussion. My husband asked “what’s your dad’s middle name?” “Harold,” I said. Then he followed with “what if we take my dad’s middle name - Julian, and pair it with your dad’s middle name - Harold? Julian Harold?” I raised my eyebrows. “Julian Harold Sellers, I love it,” I said. And so it was decided that if we had a boy, we’d name him Julian Harold. If we were to have a girl, my only plea was that we include “Jane” in the name. It’s my middle name, my aunt’s middle name, and the middle name of both of my grandmothers. We landed on Sophia Jane and we’d call her Sophie. Sophia wasn’t a family name, but it was the name of my favorite Golden Girl. This led to us calling our unborn baby “Soju” until birth where I was finally able to call him Julian or Julz. 

When I was pregnant with Wren (Lawrence), I felt strongly about wanting to continue using family names. Lawrence was the maiden name of my husband’s paternal grandmother and James was the first name of my paternal grandfather. Lawrence James felt like a solid, strong name and after looking at it on paper for a bit, I realized I could see “Wren” in Lawrence. I liked the name Wren or Ren ever since I watched Kevin Bacon play Ren McCormack in Footloose back in the late 80’s. I love a good nickname, so it felt right to call him Wren. My husband was in favor of the name and had no disputes. The girl's name we settled on was Jane Lee. Again, Jane was my only requirement and Lee is my husband’s middle name. 

I tend to wonder how my boys will feel about their names later in life. Will they feel like a Julian and a Lawrence? As a teenager, I went through a brief period when I wanted to change my name. The name “Abrie” can be tricky for some people - both in pronunciation and spelling. I’ve never been the best at correcting people who make those mistakes - it gets repetitive and I always feel guilty - I don’t want to embarrass anyone. Aubrey, Arbie, Abery, Avery, the list goes on…it’s now sort of comical to see what people come up with - I stay lighthearted and laugh about it and commend them for trying! At the end of the day, I’m still just Abrie Jane.

xo, Abrie

If you could choose a different name for yourself today, what would it be? AND what’s your middle name? Let us know in the comments - we’d love to hear from you and get to know our readers better!