“What’s in a name?”
For Juliet, not all that much, since she tries to convince Romeo “that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
But don’t tell this to graduating seniors. At every Commencement, proud students walk across the stage and their names provide the soundtrack for these last steps of their college journey. Of course, students and their families hope (expect, really) that their name be read correctly, with the right sounds in the right places. When I served as academic dean, charged with reading those names at commencement, I’d do my best to fulfill such expectations.
Each spring, about a month before graduation, I’d invited seniors to help me pronounce their name correctly at Commencement. I set up shop in the campus snack bar several hours each week, with a list — fresh from the Registrar — of who was on track to graduate.
Without fail, some of the first few students who came by had a name that was easy, really easy to say — like John Michael Smith or Patrice Louise Jones. These students dutifully said their name to me, I repeated it back to them, and we both looked a little sheepish. I said, “I think I’ve got it,” and they offered “I know, but I just wanted to make sure.” I think the making sure was as much about me getting their name pronounced correctly, as it was them confirming that their name, was, in fact, on the list.
Other names proved more difficult, and students gratefully corrected me if I was wrong. Those who were most helpful told me what their name rhymed with —although spelled “Leah,” one woman explained, “it sounds like the Princess in Star Wars.” Others simply took the pen out of my hand and spelled their names phonetically, a pleasant surprise since the teaching of phonics has fallen out of favor.
Many names were family heirlooms — dominated by grandparents’ names, with parents’ names not far behind. For other students, their first and middle names bear no historical legacy — neither do mine — a parental decision, I like to think, to give their children a chance to become known by their name, not as the next generation’s incarnation.
