SiTU MEMO 25

“NOMEN EST OMEN”.

This Roman saying means as much as “you name is your destiny, maybe even your doom”. In centuries past first names were chosen with care. It was a mark, which would never leave the new-born. The chosen name would be presented to the gods in a baptising ceremony. Your name is definitively written down in de book of life.

Choosing a name was a matter of politics. You followed the ruler or the fashion of that time-frame.

In the Netherlands first names have mainly two roots. First the pagan and local names and secondly the holy names of the Roman-Catholic church. My first name stems from that tradition. It has shrunken in time, but the roots are clear. My first name means as much as “dedicated, devoted to God”. Many saints and holy men carried this name, so did popes and emperors. Traditionally this name was given to the boy, destined to join a monastery and lead a pious life. You can find my name in the Bible, making it thousands of years old and one of the most common names in the Western hemisphere.