Any Other Me, by Any Other Name

The famous question, ‘What’s in a name?’ originates from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. In Act II, Scene ii, Juliet stands at a window and bemoans the fact that Romeo is a Montague - a family with whom her family, the Capulets, have a blood feud. She questions the value of the name, given that Romeo would be the same person with any other name (‘that which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet’). Into the open air, she asks Romeo to give up his name so that they may be together; for her, his name is but a placeholder. In reality, of course, names hold much more weight.

Sheela Banerjee, in her debut book, What’s in a Name?, lays out the extensive answer to the titular question. She expertly unravels the undertones that exist in one’s names - from class and religion to histories of migration. Certainly, our names shape our experiences; they make us stand out or blend in, they help us find faces that remind us of home in foreign lands, and they dictate who may or may not want to associate with us. Sheela Banerjee’s journey into the histories of her name and those of her friends is a testament to how a name can tell a person’s story and shape their identity. She sums up the weight of one’s name succinctly as 'a history-laden calling card to the world'.

Of course, the effect of one’s name on one’s identity is not a one-way street.

Names and identities wrap around each other like vines, trading influence back and forth. Names create identities, while identities that bud off to fill certain niches may demand their own names. Family members who are only addressed by their nickname feel like different people when you see them on official portals with their ‘actual’ name. ‘Isha’ is my taxi-hailing, delivery-enjoying alter ego - I dislike using my actual name in accounts for taxi or food delivery apps, so when I step into an Uber, it’s Isha, not Ishani, giving the driver the OTP.

During my undergraduate studies abroad, I learned that it was almost expected for my East Asian classmates to have ‘English names’. Going by Cindy Zhang, for example, would be a way to blend into a society that may stumble trying to pronounce Xinyao. A name like Sarah Park could also be the result of immigrant parents wanting their child to fit in, giving them a stereotypically North American first name while their family name retains their cultural history. Identities have to bend to accommodate this conundrum of living with one foot in each culture - the line between Cindy and Xinyao, or even Sarah and Park, may be as fine as the threshold of their parents’ home. (None of these names are based on real people, and any similarity is purely coincidental.)

A rose by any other name, then, may not be a rose at all. A Montague by any other name may not be fit to be Juliet’s Romeo. Cindy may pencil in her roll number for exams, while Xinyao may laugh with relatives at a family gathering. Names have weight. Names make a person. As Sheela Banerjee writes, "Names are power."

Sheela Banerjee and Michael Rosen will be in conversation with Somnath Batabyal at the session ‘What’s in a Name?’ during JLF London at the British Library, being held from June 13-15, 2025. Information on registration, sessions, and more is available at https://events.bl.uk/events/jlf-london-2025-saturday-pass.