Samhain Publishing

We’ve all heard the saying “A rose by any other name is still a rose”, right? Yet, although I understand the meaning behind this famous quote, I beg to differ. Oh, sure, a rose would smell just as sweet if it were called a pickle, but there are other things to consider.

Names have significant values. As an author, I know this is true. A name, like the title of a book, can make or break a person. Why else would actors and other fame-seeking wannabes change their names? To demonstrate my point, let’s take a couple of celebrities and consider their real names.

Barry Alan Pincus aka Barry Manilow:
Picture Barry Manilow on stage, singing his heart out. Could you imagine him as someone named Rocky? How about Butch? What about Slade or Sloan? Wouldn’t he have the same musical talent if he’d been named Charles Manson? Sure, he would. But I dare say the face wouldn’t have matched the name and he might have spent his life pounding out songs without ever setting foot on a stage. His real first name of Barry works for him, but what about his last name of Pincus? If Barry hadn’t realized how uninspiring his true last name was, we’d have had to endure Fincus Followers instead of Fanilows. Okay, maybe being a Fanilow doesn’t sound much better, but you get my point.

Dana Owens aka Queen Latifah:
This girl made it big and kept on getting bigger in personality and talent, as well as with her physical body. In a world infatuated with thin bodies, she outweighed and outperformed all the other songbirds in both the music and movie worlds, winning accolades and awards. However, would she have gone as far with her real name? Would she have the attitude she has now if she’d gone with Diva Dana? I think not. Does Dana Owens conjure up the same royal persona as Queen Latifah? Uh, nope. Hey, the Queen ain’t no dummy. She knew a big girl needed a big name.

How about movie and book titles? Can you imagine Gone with the Wind under an alternate name? What if Ms. Mitchell had kept the book’s original title of Tomorrow is Another Day? Would the timeless classic have sold as many copies? Perhaps not. What if the studio had renamed the film Grant Gets Hot and Heavy in the Deep South? (Sounds like a porno film, doesn’t it?) Would movie goers have shelled out money to see a film with that title? (Okay, some might have paid big bucks considering my previous comment, but they’d have been sorely disappointed. Birthing babies isn’t what they’d have wanted to see.) What if the studio had decided to target a different audience and called it Scarlett: Spoiled and Soiled? I don’t know about you, but the last title makes me think of a chick flick starring Susan Lucci.

How about the phenomenal War and Peace? What if Leo Tolstoy had called it One Big Thick Book? Would you want to read it? Or how about Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Russia During the Napoleonic Era? Now there’s a fun read. Perhaps the other titles may have been descriptive, but the grandness of the book’s story is lost with those lackluster—not to mention odd—titles.

So you see, names are not simply monikers, and titles help to define the work. Even the word rose sounds soft and flows off the tongue, whereas the word pickle sounds prickly and harsh. Additionally, a rose, while smelling just as sweet, wouldn’t evoke the images, the emotions and the sensory memories it does if it had another name. When I hear the word or think of a rose, I think of my husband who’s given me roses many times. When I see a rose, my heart melts, my eyes well up and my pulse quickens. For me, as I’m sure it is for you, names mean something. And trust me. I don’t want a pickle when I’m expecting a rose.

Beverly Rae
www.beverlyrae.com
Giggle, Gasp & Sigh with a Beverly Rae Romance