What's in a Name?

The question of names has come up several times. If you think about a name, it's something that is given, sometimes with a pre-existing meanings, that end up being defined by the recipient either intentionally or unintentionally. 

A parent might name their child "Susan Hope Smith-Johnson". Susan for the mother's grandmother, hope for a quality they'd like their child to embody and Smith-Johnson because they're pretentious dopes (to paraphrase George Carlin, pick a fucking name lady). But every interaction almost negates the intention of the name. To her parents she is a daughter, to her brother she is a sister, to friends she could be Sue, Suzie, Suze or any number of variations. Moreover, her name is defined by who she is. For her first boyfriend Susan will represent a relationship and depending on how said relationship ended there might be certain connotations associated with the name. For her child she'll be mom or ma or mum or mommy or momma and Susan will be a funny word that does not fit what Susan meant to others. 

So when I hear meanings behind names I find them extraneous. Michael Keaton's real name is Michael Douglas. If I saw him I'd think "Hey, that's Michael Keaton". Actually I'd probably just yell Batman and run towards him, but that's beside the point. We make meanings for our names, just like tonic, pop and soda can all be used for a Coca Cola. Or how biscuits here and biscuits in England have the same name yet different meanings. We all make meaning and have meaning made for us. So names are kinda just placeholders until we develop personalities and things that separate us.