Formerly known as...

I've gone by many names in my life. I was born Aaron, but by my family my nickname was (and still is) Bub. In my mid-teens, I found the Mos Eisely Cantina chat room, in which I first went by the name Master Skywalker. After meeting my mentor Mitth, I gave myself the name Streen. Many years later, during a dark time, I started going by the name Jacen, but eventually went back to being called Streen. And now at Jedihood.com I am called Aharon. As I'm sure you can imagine, all these names are rather overwhelming.
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At this point in my life, partly due to the fact that I don't know what to call myself, I don't know who I am, not fully. I personally am not a fan of any of those names. This, I am finding, is not about just me. It's about finding the nameless, that which lies between the quotes, like " ", as Relan Volkum and I spoke about many years ago. It is a realization that the true divine is something that cannot be spoken. You can call it the Force, God, Tao, and so on, but each name is exclusive, in that to call it one thing, is to exclude that which is not called by that name.
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And so I will exist as part of the Jedi community, and continue working, but I will not cling to any particular name. Who I am cannot be encapsulated by a name, and so I will not refer to myself by any one in particular.

Why am I telling anyone this? I imagine that most of you couldn't care less what I call myself, or don't even know who I am. That's okay. This is more of a confirmation for myself, a commitment to being something beyond a mere word.

I don't mind comments though. If you have something to ask or add, feel free.

There is power in a name.

I was named Leah by my parents, pronounced "LEE-ah".

My mum named me after a soap opera star that she admired at the time around when I was born. I never felt that. I needed a deeper meaning to my name. So I went to the source: The Bible.

Leah was the first wife of Jacob to whom she was married through her father's trickery - Jacob actually loved her sister Rachel. The Bible described her with the ancient version of "She had a great personality" or "Miss Congeniality" and she spends the majority of her story bearing multiple sons, saying after each "Maybe Jacob will love me now..." Being raised Christian, I accepted that namesake, even if it depressed me. At least it has meaning.

Years later, I found that the people I cared most about (and who cared for me) pronounced my name "LAY-ah" for no other reason than they felt it rolled off the tongue better. Since in French (which is my second language), my name is pronounced "Léa", I didn't see the issue.

But as time went on, and I embraced the geek lifestyle, "LAY-ah" took on more significance: Princess (and later, General) Leia. And I found that I had started introducing myself as "LAY-ah" - I finally felt like my name was a reflection of myself, just from changing the pronunciation. People hear my name and, if they're a nerd of any description, they think of and associate me with the fictional Leia.

I'm no longer the soap opera star, or the love-hungry throwaway wife, but the bold, courageous, compassionate and intelligent leader. And that suits me.

On the side, I also occasionally go by Lady Gallifreya (my burlesque stage name) and Chaos Maiden (my cosplay identity).

Thanks for sharing your story and starting this thread, Streen.

When I was born, my mother wanted to call me Steven Jeffrey, but my dad wanted to call me Jeffrey Steven. After deep contemplation and much discussion, they decided to settle it with a game of checkers. :laugh: Apparently my mom is better at checkers.

I share this story because it reminds me that there is only so much importance in a name. Names are a good way to alleviate confusion when talking about people and a great way to get someone's attention, but they don't define a person.

When I joined here, I chose the name Senan because my Irish grandfather used to call me that when I was a child. It roughly translates to "little old wise man". I think he used it because I was a little smart-ass and a know-it-all, but I use it now because a "little old wise man" is how I hope to be seen by others one day

My names have been for others, not me.

My parents named me Adam David. They told me it meant First King of Men.

My theater job and the local street thugs that worked there in the early morning called me Angel because I looked like a fictional Vampire of the same name.

My Sister of another blood and her free spirits named me Brother Blue because it was what I always wore.

A Jedi name generator scrambled my birth name into Rugadd Ratus

My Gong Fu instructor named me Da Sheng for such quick progress.

I agree with Miss_Leah. A name has power. A name is a verbal image and/or representation of who you are. That's why people called Voldemort 'You Know Who,' or why the Jewish won't use G_d's name at all. (They won't even spell it, they believe His name is so powerful.)

I, myself, ended up changing my name a few years ago for this very reason- my old name didn't represent who I am now. I was born 'Elizabeth,' (a name that apparently came from the television character Elizabeth from the American television show 'The Waltons' :S ) For a while, that name did represent me, but that began to change in my teens and eventually, it didn't represent me at all. So, after some soul searching, I changed it, finding names with meanings that would embody me much more accurately. I now go by Elise Sorine

I've read about some cultures that do/did this name change as the norm, including several Native American tribes. There, a child would be called one thing, but their names would change with their personalities, bodies, age, achievements, etc. I thinks that that's very nice, calling someone by something that's meaningful at the time :0)

I also don't think any name truly encapsulates the whole of who I am. I was named Brian at birth, but many names may be used to capture my essence. Like the Native American tradition described by WralaValel, any name used for me is kind of a snapshot of my personality or temperament at that time. Sometimes, things stick much better and longer than others, but I've come to understand that it isn't going to be the box that fits for all of time.

My Birth name was Danny James Hendrix McGill

Silas Mercury wrote: My Birth name was Danny James Hendrix McGill

Jimi Hendrix \m/

yep