The Name Game
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If I could…what would I choose? This question has plagued me throughout my time in Malta. Everyone at some point in their life considers that moment when you will get to make the ultimate decision; giving someone a name. Strangely I toy with the idea even though I’ve never really wanted kids; I still can’t help but wonder if I did have them, what would I name them. Molly, Ryan, Adam, Alexandra….I’m not really sure.
Names can be given for many different reasons; memories, family legacies, to make a statement, or to make people strong. Whenever I consider names I think about one of my favorite songs when I was growing up by Johnny Cash, A Boy Named Sue; that name certainly built strength! I would listen to it nonstop and smile every time the father explained why he named his boy Sue.
When I first arrived in Malta and walked around the neighborhood I was staying in, I immediately noticed that the majority of houses had name plates. At first I thought it was odd and funny. But the more I saw, the more I wanted to learn about them. I started asking locals about the names and the etiquette around naming a house. I learned some important rules:
• When a house changes hands, you can rename it.
• The name is part of the address the post office uses.
• There are no rules, you can have two houses with the same name.
• Not everyone names their house…but it is the norm.
• People in Malta think it’s strange if your house doesn’t have a name.
I wandered around the neighborhoods looking for names that caught my eye and my imagination. Some were named for the people who lived there – combining names of the husband and wife into a completely new and nonsensical word. Some Some were named for geography and clearly identified the expat houses! Some were names for religion; considering Malta is extremely catholic there was a myriad of Saints ‘X’ and Mary’s. Some were named for humor. Some were named in groups like directions, musicians, instruments, mountains, or cities.I have a special fondness for grouping things so I was quite amused by these. However, I gravitated towards the clever and sarcastic ones.
I found myself preoccupied with thinking about what I would name my house if I had one. I came up with names like Marilyn (after my mother), or Lea (my middle name). But I really leaned towards the odd names, such as I’m Loaded, Boat, My Office, North Pole, Enter Name Here, Exit, or Brangelina. Yet all of this house naming was silly, after all, I don’t even have a house. So then I considered that maybe I should simply name my backpack and it would serve the same purpose. Names like Wash Me, Smelly, and Oversized came to mind.
And then it hit me…of course I know what I’d name it.
Ottsworld.
Here are some of my favorites below!
If you could name your house (or backpack) – what would you name it?
Hehe … Welcome to Malta 🙂
I think you missed houses named for football clubs … its not that hard to find names like “Old Trafford”, “Liverpool” etc…
Ha! Yes I missed them becuase I’m American and don’t know all of the football teams in Europe!
I do have a tendency to name things. I have named each of my cars – usually related to the car somehow (my Korean made Kia is called Min-Ki, strength in Korean, and my Ford is called Hank, short for Henry as in Henry Ford) – I have named all my mountain bikes through time (usually men’s names for some reason – they just come to me…Frank, Gus…). I never named my backpack though. I love the name plates on the houses – they add an elegance don’t they?
When I was studying abroad in Dunedin, New Zealand, I noticed a lot of the university flats had nicknames above the door – things like The French Embassy, The Hilton, The Shire – some creative, some sexual innuendos, some drinking references. I think house names are a pretty cool idea!
Name my backpack – what an intriguing idea!
This is similar to rural England. My in-laws have a named house. Just write “Juniper House” and the town on a postcard — and it miraculously gets there!
How funny! I’d like to go to Malta just to look at the houses’ names now. My extended family has a couple of “second homes,” you know, for the summer, and they name those houses but not their main ones. No second home for me, but we do like to name our cars something related to their license plates. Like our old Honda Civic hatchback years ago we called “Chewie,” due to the first two letters of its plate being “2E.” Hey, you get your amusement where you can. 🙂
I to have named all of my cars. My last two German cars were/are named Hanz and Franz (current one).
If I had to name a house, it would be Wiley. I love my last name, because it reminds me of Wil E Coyote…supergenius.
I view the names given to neighborhoods and strip malls as sarcastic. They are often named after what was destroyed to build them. Cedar Hills, The River Woods, Orchard, The Meadows, etc. I alway think, “Right, where’s the meadow?” Maybe some day we will tear out some asphalt, plant a bunch of trees and call it “The Parking Lot.”
Naming a house seems a little strange to me but I am surprised how many houses here around the neighbourhood where I live have house names. Some sound very English, some seem to have little meaning and some are odd – but I am sure they have meaning. People name boats but I think it is bad luck to change its name if you buy someone else’s boat.
“Ottsworld” for your backpack name? As with the houses are a part of the families that live in them, your backpack is a part of you. Why name it the same as the world you live in? You’re not “practical.” Why should your backpack’s name be “practical”? The names of the houses you liked the most are whimsical.
In a previous post, you mentioned keeping your camera gear in it and taking it onto the plane, even though it probably should be checked. How about: Carry-On Nightmare, Overload, Precious Cargo, On The Move, Next Stop…., Household Goods, or Life In A Bag.
Some of these might get the wrong kind of attention if stitched boldly, for example, on a strap. But you get my idea.
Home. For both house and backpack (well, backpack slash wheelie suitcase in my case, ho ho!)
This is SO cool!
I love the idea of naming a house! I’ve never heard of anything like this before, thank you for sharing 🙂