What's in a name?

My sister-in-law recently had a beautiful baby girl and I was involved in choosing her name.

As I perused the "Big Book of Baby Names" I found my name and those of my siblings and a description of the personalities associated with each name. I thought the personalities of my family members matched the characteristics described in the book.

My older sister's name, McKenzie, means thoughtful and eccentric with a wild side. My brother Marshall's name means a kind and protective man who people feel comfortable around. My brother Jeromy's name means fun and entertaining but spoiled. My mother's name means a confident, beautiful woman who is tough.

My name is Marielle Virginia McKean. Because Marielle is such an unusual name, I was unable to find it listed in any of the baby name books. The closest name to mine was Maryellen, which described a personality very much like mine. In the book, Maryellen was described as a young woman who can either be good-natured and caring or temperamental and strong-willed. Anyone that knows me would agree I should have been named Maryellen instead of Marielle.

The personality description for my middle name wasn't as accurate. The book described Virginia as "a grumpy, old lady who is dissatisfied and nit-picky." At least I hope it doesn't describe my personality.

From another source I found Marielle is of French origin and means a "sea of bitterness." I certainly hope I am not a bitter person. Most of the sources I read though, said Marielle is a form of Mary and Ellen, names that denote pureness and holiness. I would much rather be a pure person than a dissatisfied and bitter one.

I believe the names people are given as babies develop their characters as they conform to or create the images associated with their names. The "Big Book of Baby Names" used the images of celebrities to describe what images their names are associated with. For instance, the name Brooke is associated with the celebrity Brooke Shields and is described as a young, shy girl with thick eyebrows. My niece is also named Brooke and her personality matches that description perfectly. I believe she was named Brooke because Brooke Shields was popular at the time. I also believe Brooke's personality has developed to reflect that celebrity's image.

As long as I can remember, my name has always been pointed out as different and hard to pronounce. I have never had any comments about it being a bad name, but I have had plenty of complements on how pretty and flattering Marielle sounds. I believe my experience with my name has developed my character in not being embarrassed and a bit proud of my unusual name.

The attention always drawn to my name helped me handle being singledout. I was given the middle name Virginia, because it is my grandmother's name and it has a strong Christian origin. Having a religious middle name holds a person to an expectation of religiousness and civility. In my opinion, being named Virginia has been an expectation I have had for me to live up to my name's religious meaning of pureness. I also hold myself to the expectation of honoring my grandmother Virginia McKean.

Because there are very few people named Marielle, I have had the liberty of developing the image associated with the name for the people who know me. Every person knows a person with a certain name which develops an image in their minds when they think of the name. When the people who know me think of the name Marielle, they will be reminded of my personality. They decide whether they like my name based on whether or not they like my personality. I would hope, when people think of my name, they think of a compassionate, pensive individual who is driven. And I certainly hope they don't think of a sea of bitterness!

Marielle McKean is the intern for the Coumbia Basin Herald, and in our book her name means "outstanding intern."