Sociology of My Name - Danielle. Essay Example

A person’s name is the most critical item that identifies an individual in society. In most cultures around the world, a name connects an individual to his/her personality. Most parents name their children based on their cultural practices, seasons, or particular inspiration. Although not always the case, a person’s name indicates an individual’s spiritual and religious affiliation. This paper is going to discuss the sociology of my name.

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Danielle

The name my parents gave me is Danielle – and it is the current name I use both on social occasion and official matters. The name is a feminine name of Daniel, which has its origin from the Hebrew culture. The title means “God is my judge.” However, the female name Danielle has its originality from Latin. The name has become widely adopted in the United States, with its popularity being in the mid-1980s to mid-1990s (Social Security Administration, 2020). In the 1980s, the name was among the top 200 popular names in the United States – appearing 134, 372 among 18,455,213 female births.

Examine Your Name from a Sociological Perspective

Socially, people believe a girl who gets this name is most likely to exhibit extreme success in life. Another good trait of a person assigned this name is the belief that the person possesses good leadership attributes. The arguments prove to be somehow true since I have always gotten leadership positions like a football team leader, class representative, and secretary-general of the drama club in our high school. Furthermore, Danielle gets viewed as a person who is honest, hardworking, and understanding. Perhaps this warm treatment from society makes people with such names thrive in the community. I have experienced situations where people become drawn to me because of my beautiful name. In other cases, some people usually come out and tell me my name is lovely and beautiful. Many researchers argue that people’s identity is shaped by how they get treated by the society, and the way the community treats us to some degree emanates from the uniqueness of our names (McMunn et al., 2017).

When a child is born, the naming of the child stems from many factors, including religious, cultural, and values of the parents. Moreover, parents name children based on experiences of that time or times as a reminder of a particular event in society.

How have time, culture, and Gender Impacted your Name?

Although an individual’s name is personal, the period might influence how naming gets done. For instance, celebrities or famous figures in the world might affect the naming of children during a particular period. In the case of Daniella, the most notable individual still remembered to date is Danielle Steel. She is a female writer popularly known for her romance novels. Many people who are named Danielle to date consider themselves associated with Danielle Steel. However, some cultures find the name confusing since most people do not know whether the name is feminine or male. Hence most people prefer not to use it because of these controversies.

How Might Your Name Be Different If You Had Been Born One Hundred Years Earlier? Why?

Danielle’s name has had a little variation with time, with most people referring to it as Daniella. The difference depends on the culture in which the name gets identified. However, my name has been among the most commonly used names since the ninetieth century to date. Furthermore, my name draws its uniqueness from the meaning attached to it. Therefore, had I been born one hundred years ago, my name would still be Danielle – since it is its religious meaning that has made the title so famous.

References

McMunn, A., Martin, P., Kelly, Y., & Sacker, A. (2017). Fathers’ involvement: Correlates and consequences for child socio-emotional behavior in the United Kingdom. Journal of Family Issues, 38(8), 1109-1131. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X15622415

Social Security Administration. (2020). Social Security. Retrieved May 31, 2020, from https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/decades/names1980s.html