subject: He will be Called Nelson [print this page] He will be Called Nelson He will be Called Nelson
When my son comes here on Earth, he will be called Nelson. I find no other name suitable for him.
First of all, I cannot name my son after somebody else. Naming him after somebody else would be affirming the superiority of his namesake to him, and clearly setting him out as his exemplar for life. And if I was to name my son after someone; the only person I could name after is me. Not any other man. Deeply rooted in me is probably the selfish yearning for recognition, but the way I look at it, it is just more logical that he be named after the father.
He is Nelson because we have a similitude of genetic makeup. As the father, I have contributed overwhelmingly to the creation of this being. And although all the laurels of creation are only to God, I too contributed quite immensely for the glorious childbirth. I did not oppose the magnificence of the creator through aborting the child, but just like any other animal; I waited with bated patience as the creator formed a human being in another.
I cannot name him after his creator. In my judgment, that would be a mockery of divinity. The divine is not made up of mortal human beings, and taking the name of the godhead would be something close to blasphemy; not piety. For I cannot behold one who has a finite knowledge taking on the one with infinite knowledge. I do not want to set a creature against the creator- the last creature I know of who tried this will be tormented beyond repeal.
I cannot pick on any other commonplace name; like John, Joseph, Isaiah, Yusuf, Mohammed. I would be lying to myself and to him. Common names already have personalities in them. When you hear somebody is called John doesn't your subconscious quickly assemble a general personality out of all the Johns you have known during your lifetime? And if the character of this John comes out as so thwarted and out of sync with what you have already perceived, will you not tell John (or at least contemplate), this is very unlikely of John'.
I cannot name my son after his other relations, not even after his grand or great-grand kinsfolk. I do not adequately understand the disposition of these people. Could be they were really great men of the past. But chances are that they might have been the ones who were hated the most, or were the most evil. Maybe in their age, nobody wanted to face them. And am I ready to give a name to my son of a person I do not fully understand? Am I ready to honor a thief in my house? No. No because I am not ready to play dice and hope that these were actually good people. I am ready to play dice on the fact that my children will want to outlive my dreams and aspirations. That my name was not worthy of them, but they still accepted it gracefully so they could lift our' name and affix it permanently in the great books of history.
I am sure you have questions to ask. The first one maybe, what if the baby is female?' Well, that would be a bit hard. The onus will now lie with her mother; I won't really worry about her name in an aforethought, after all the seed is always in the man (not prejudicially or chauvinistically, but biblically). Above all I will still thank God for the girl child.
Someone else asks, what if they be twins?' Here we go! Twins are my perfect endowment; the pair is the best gift any lady can give me. I will never expect more. Their names will be delineated as Nelson I and Nelson II.
