The Power of Names: Exploring Meaning, Personality Traits, and Numerology
I have other, more important blog posts to write, but I woke up thinking about names and their meanings. This isn’t the first time I’ve thought about it, but it is the first time it woke me up at a brisk 5 a.m. So, here we are. What’s in a name? Who named you, and why?
My father gave me three things: a cool name, a wild mane, and an addictive personality (not so cool). My name, Mia, was rare—at least until The Princess Diaries came out. I met only one other girl growing up who shared my name, but we both moved too much to stay in touch. (This was before social media and cell phones.) It’s worth noting my name has never been short for Amelia, and any hair similarities are coincidental. Also, if you have a dog named Mia, or your cousins dog is named Mia I don’t want to know. Please, please, if I have to hear about one more dog that shares my name I will cry. You don’t want me to cry do you?
My father insisted my name meant “My Precious One” in Irish. Don’t come for me—those were his words. I never found any evidence to back up that particular meaning, and believe me, I looked. What I did find is that my name means "mine" in Spanish and Italian, "water" in Swahili, and most recently, I discovered my favorite meaning: In Sanskrit, Mia was a lesser hearth goddess. I mean, come on, I’m nothing if not a kitchen witch. 😈 My middle name, though? It means "bitter." So depending on how you spin it, I’m either “my precious bitter one,” "mine bitter," "bitter water," or a bitter hearth goddess. And there was definitely a time when I resonated a little too hard with that "bitter" part.
I’ve had a theory for as long as I can remember that people with the same name share similar personality traits, and almost without exception, similar energy patterns. I think this is how we get meme names like Karen and Kyle. I mean, we all kind of instinctively know it’s true to some extent, right? Sure, there are exceptions, but by and large, tell me you don’t expect Karen to give you a hard time in a customer service setting. And for me, it goes even deeper when we start looking at the difference between given names and their shortened versions—like Matthew to Matt, Robert to Rob (or Bob), or my personal favorite, Bobert, Douglas vs. Doug, Cassandra vs Cassie, Rebecca vs Becky or Becca. You get the picture and Urban Dictionary can help solidify what I’m saying here. Not that Urban Dictionary is true or accurate, but its fun and you’ll see listings for names that essentially back up your own preconceived ideas about the name.
I will never date another Matt, but I’ve never met a Matthew with the same behaviors or energy signature as someone that goes by Matt. I have anecdotal evidence that I am not the only person that knows the name Matt equals a hard time. Fun fact about me: I used to play on a dart league. While throwing darts my friend and I often spoke about a couple of Matt’s we knew and how awful they were, then one day we were up against a team named “Matt Sucks” which just solidified that our experiences were the norm for men named Matt. So because this is a phenomena I’ve been observing my whole life, I got to wondering why.
The truth is I don’t know why. For me it’s quite the chicken or the egg quandary. Did their names shape their personality or did their parents happen to choose a name that fit them perfectly? I have a feeling until we know a lot more about energy, quantum physics and how it works we will never know. Something I explored that came close to explaining this was numerology. Disclaimer: I only dabbled. The premise behind numerology, as relevant to today’s conversation, is that each letter has a numeric value. Each name adds up to a number. Each number carries its own energy signature.
So, Mia Marie would break down like this. M=4 I=9 A=1, M=4 A=1 R=9 I=9 E=5 You add those together and get 42, 4=2 = 6. So, 6 is my number, and it holds a specific meaning (which I can’t remember because, again, I only dabbled). Usually, you do this with your last name too. If you want to learn more about numerology, there are plenty of books available. Unfortunately, I lost mine, so I don’t even know what I used. You can also find numerologists like you would astrologists, if you are less of a DIY spiritualist. If you happen to be in Houghton Lake, MI, Arjay at Mystical Awakenings offers numerology readings (this is not sponsored, I’m just aware of his offerings). His wife, Deb, offers mediumship sessions if that’s more your thing.
I just think that the name we are given holds more weight than what we usually consider. Names are important, never give yours to the Fae or the creepy dude/dudette at the bar. Maybe consider not naming your child Jeff Jeffries or Markus Markle, or any other silly repeating thing. Don’t name your children names that carry negative meanings such as Matt. Just kidding, name your kid Matt if you want, but he’ll be the reason the next generation knows that Matt’s are dishonest, disloyal, and sometimes disgusting. Maybe stay clear of Mallory, which means ill-fated, and I have had occasion to meet a few Mallorys, they often are dealing with unfortunate circumstances. So, just be careful out there when choosing your kids names and your own should you find yourself needing to rebrand. Maybe don’t choose names of ancient Gods, either. But that’s a little too superstitious, even for me. Tell me in the comments what your favorite name is, what your name means, and how you feel about it.
With love and humor,
Mia Marie
