Too Many Bob's

Last week I quietly celebrated my nnth birthday. Suffice it to say I am old enough to drive a car, to remember Howdy Doody, and to know that if I say the secret woid I can divide a hundred dollars. I also share my birthday with Marilyn Monroe, Alanis Morissette and Heidi Klum , and I try not to let it go to my head. Other notables born on June 1^st  include Andy Griffith, Morgan Freeman, Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones, and Frank Morgan, the rich voiced actor who played several parts in The Wizard of Oz, including the wizard.

So what’s in a name, anyway? Silly question, but I’m silly, so that makes it okay to ask. Personally, I think there’s much in a name. For example, famous names from fiction instantly conjure up images. Take Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol,” Scarlett O’Hara from “Gone with the Wind” and Captain Ahab in “Moby Dick.” To say nothing of Moby, himself. Not a bad name for a whale, nor a goldfish, but I wouldn’t recommend it for a baby girl. In addition, we like to name that tune, to sell books that suggest baby names and we like to name the hurricanes we hate.

Even my rat terrier, Lucy, knows her name, though she doesn’t know what it means. (I used to tell our prior dog, a bichon frise named Wolfey, “You’re not a real dog, you know.” He loved it, though my wife thought I was cruel.)

I always thought MENSA, the society for people with extremely high IQ’s, was an acronym for MENtally Superior Aptitude … or Attitude, depending on your IQ & POV. Actually it’s a Latin derivative for table. I find it a little harder to hate them now that I know that.

We still use the names given by ancient Arabians to name the brightest stars in the heavens. The brightest of all stars is called Sirius, which means “scorching.” Altair is the “flying one,” Capella the “she-goat,” Rigel means “foot,”─a big clue to its location in Orion. And Regulus, in Leo the Lion, is "the prince," or "heart of the lion." Whereas the silver bright, summer star, Vega, is "the swooping eagle," Antares is "anti-Ares" or "rival of Mars." Less exciting is Mirfak, which means "elbow." And I decided to stop looking them up at Ascella, for "armpit."

Thanks to Google, I can locate many more names born on my birthday, and I can also locate many others who share my name. Too many. There’s so many Bob’s the name is synonymous with ordinary. But that doesn’t bother me. I was named for my Scottish grandfather, Robert Penman, and told he was wonderful man. My name means “one who pursues excellence.” I can live with that, though there’s too many of us named for him in the family. Three, not counting Grandpa.

Names are most definitely connected to identity. Jesus renamed Simon to Peter, the “rock” he will build his church on. And take the name of Jesus, himself, which means “the Lord is salvation,” or “God’s Salvation”─not a name given to an underachiever. And Christ is not his last name but a title. It’s from the Greek for “Anointed One.” According to the Bible, the very name of Jesus has power to chase demons and do miracles. And I’ve never known anyone to hit their thumb with a hammer and yell, “Oh Buddha!”─which only seems fair (though pointless).

So what’s in a name? Well, according to Ecclesiastes 7:1a, “A good name is better than fine perfume …”  I suppose as "one who pursues excellence," I can live with too many Bob’s.

* Key to the Bob's:  (l-r) Robert Duvall, Robert Mitchum, Bob Sagett, Robert E. Lee, Sponge Bob Squarepants, Robert Plant, Bob Dylan, Robert Downey, jr, Smiling Bob, Bob Russell, Bob Marley, Bob Newhart, Bob the Builder, Bob Barker, Robert Redford, Bob Hope, Bobby Flay, Robert De Niro, Robert Kennedy, Robert Shaw.