| August 2010 |
What’s in a name?
What is the origin of your name? I’ll bet someone in your family, perhaps a child (or you) has asked about their name. “Why was I named (fill in the blank)?” “Why couldn’t you have named me (fill in the blank)?” Or, “Mom, why couldn’t you have named me something more INTERESTING?”
My parents named me Ann Jessica in memory of my maternal grandparents. Growing up, I thought my name was plain and uninteresting. It was not like any of the fascinating people I read about in Seventeen magazine (British Invasion musicians or president’s daughters). And it wasn’t exotic like some of my friends: Dana from Uruguay, or Justine from the next town. “Why ANN JESSICA – ugh!”, I complained.
I finally asked my mother why I was branded with such an ordinary name (after all, I didn’t want to feel ordinary!). She explained that I was named after her grandparents, Anne and Julius. My mother took the time to share some stories about my great- grandmother Anne who headed a household of five daughters and one son with grounded grace and humor, along with her husband, Julius, who founded and ran the Philadelphia Badge Company. He was a hard driving businessman who took care of his employees and allowed his grandchildren to “help out” in the factory (as long as they didn’t cause trouble, of course). Julius was an enterprising innovator. He owned one of the first gasoline powered automobiles and liked to ride around town showing it off. One day his fancy automobile ran out of fuel on a bridge in the city and he had to walk home. At that point, Anne declared that she would never ride in that thing again! And, true to her word, she did not!
I listened to stories about Anne, Julius and their six children (one of whom was my grandmother, Evelyn). The color and texture of my ancestral family and the times in which they lived in the bustling city of Philadelphia, came to life for me.
Peel the calendar forward several decades and I have three children. One day, one of them asked, “Mom, why did you name me such an ordinary name?” I carefully told her stories of my grandmother for whom she was named. I told her about Evelyn’s lively personality, her early jobs as a business woman conducting market research during WWII and afterwards when women returned to their homes. I told her that her great-grandmother loved to read spy novels and brought me loads of books from second hand stores and clothes from all over Philadelphia (probably second hand stores). She had a terrific sense of humor, a great laugh and let me play with her “samples” of lipstick or try the samples of chewing gum she was market testing. And, she took me shopping in Philadelphia on my birthday to buy clothes at the big department stores: Strawbridge & Clothiers, Gimbels, Wanamakers and Bonwit Teller!
In Judaism, there is an Ashkenazic custom that we honor our ancestors by naming our children after our loved ones who are no longer with us. This is one way we keep their memories alive. Otherwise, we would name our children after chic movie stars, authors, musicians, athletes, Pulitzer Prize winners or other things that catch our fancy (Apple, Moonbeam, Blanket, Rumor…). Our names and our stories shape who we are and we are NOT ordinary.
As I travel around to URJ and temple events, and connect with people on the URJ temple presidents’ listserv, I meet others from temples with our name. Temple Sinai is a common name. But is it ordinary? I don’t think so. Our Temple Sinai has, in 51 years, woven a history filled with meaning based on stories, relationships, connections and events that are unique to us. Just as the name Ann is ordinary, my name has meaning, and so it is true for Temple Sinai. There is only one Temple Sinai, filled with meaning for each of us.
Our stories connect us to our past. They provide a sense of history, a sense of place, culture, and language so we and our children can look forward to a promising future for the next generations. So, what’s in a name? It is our history as individuals, families, and our beloved Temple Sinai community.
