It sounds like the plot line to a movie: He’s a former LA cop on a violent, rage-filled rampage who will stop at nothing for revenge.

Instead, police say, it is the latest real-life crime story to grip Southern California, a place where fiction frequently blurs with reality and pop culture often plays larger than the truth.

Christopher Dorner’s alleged killing spree hasn’t just terrorized a section of the country – it has captured people’s imagination and attention.

Dorner’s manifesto rambles on for more than 10,000 words, spending much of the first half accusing Los Angeles police of wrongly firing him, destroying his reputation and leaving him with no choice but to kill people to bring those actions to the public’s attention and restore his name.

Dorner, who has said he expects to die in a violent confrontation with police is presumed dead and the state of his name remains in question.

“We will look back on this not as somebody with a great cause who called attention to it in a bad way,” she said. “This is somebody who created terrible heartbreak.”

So what’s in a name?

The idea that our names are intertwined with our destinies goes at least as far back as the book of Genesis in the Bible, when Abram saw his name changed to Abraham, which means  “father of multitudes” in Hebrew.  In Ancient Egypt, Popular religious practice included ceremonies marking important transitions in life. These included birth, because of the danger involved in the process, and naming, because the name was held to be a crucial part of a person’s identity.

As a part of the soul, a person’s ren (rn ‘name’) was given to them at birth and the Egyptians believed that it would live for as long as that name was spoken, which explains why efforts were made to protect it and the practice of placing it in numerous writings. For example, part of the Book of Breathings, a derivative of the Book of the Dead, was a means to ensure the survival of the name. A cartouche (magical rope) often was used to surround the name and protect it.

In more recent years, social psychology research has connected people’s names to decisions they make in whom to marry, what street to live on and what they do for a living — all based on how similar the names were to a person’s own name.

Find Your Name Here

So do names matter?

To a remarkable degree, they do. Though we don’t choose them, our names are badges bearing information about our class, education level, and ethnic origin — or at least those of our parents.

Scientific studies have shown that the world makes different assumptions about a boy named Tyrone than it does about one named Philip, and while those assumptions are often wrong, they can have a considerable influence on the course of a life.

A name can even exert unconscious influence over a person’s own choices. Some scientific researchers contend that there are disproportionately large numbers of dentists named Dennis and lawyers named Lauren, and that it’s not purely an accident that Dr. Douglas Hart of Scarsdale, N.Y., chose cardiology or that the Greathouse family of West Virginia runs a real-estate firm.

To some degree, this has always been true: The Romans had the expression nomen est omen, or “name is destiny.”

When you were born your parents gave you a name, one that was popular at the time or had meaning to them at that moment in their lives. Your name, with a specific blend of sounds unique to you and you alone. Hearing your name and saying your name unlocks the mystery to who you really are.

In situations where the name is all that is known, people with common first names fare better than those with unique ones. Studies have found that a résumé submitted under a name perceived as African-American, such as Lakesia Washington, gets less attention from potential employers than the identical résumé bearing a more “Caucasian” name, like Mary Ann Roberts.

A recent Australian study found that people tend to have better impressions of co-workers and political candidates whose names they can pronounce easily. Nonetheless, in this era of individual self-expression, many parents view commonplace names like Thomas or Jane as boring and uncreative.

It may be hard to believe but did you know that your name can tell a LOT about you?

The name that you use in the world does in fact influence all aspects of your life. It can also show you the different lessons or challenges you experience on the physical and spiritual levels of your life.

There is a reason why you have your name and it’s not because it sounded classy in the gossip pages of the New York Post. Your birth name paired with numerology can enlighten you on what motivates you in life, what warrants your true expression, and the lasting impression you leave on others when you exit a room.

The power of a name and its value has long been immortalized in prose, poetry, and religious ceremony. Everyone recognizes himself or herself by name.

The question is: how does a name influence a person’s character?

Let us consider what a name is. It is the grouping of several letters of an alphabet, or other symbols, which represent the identification of a person or an object.

The one thing which separates human beings from the animal kingdom is human mind, which has the ability to reason on a conscious level. To think consciously, one must use language. This point is not generally appreciated but it is vitally important.

It is impossible to think without language. What allows language to serve in this manner? In the case of languages which have alphabets, letters are placed in a definite sequence in the alphabet, i.e., in the English alphabet, “A” is always in the first position, “B” in the second position, and so on. Any alphabet is an alphabet because symbols are recognized by their form or sound in a definite order–change the order and confusion results.

However, there is more than just sound and alphabetical symbols to language. The link between human intelligence, mind, language, and the order of the letters in the alphabet is the key to measuring human mind and solving the major problem of mental discord and imbalance.

The sequential sounds of your name create a harmonic reverberation within you that unlocks your true potential and gives you a firm foundation to successfully navigate the challenging hi-ways and bi-ways of life and relationships. There is no greater gift that you can give to yourself than to know your Name.

The meta-effects of how sounds influence human behavior. Low frequency sounds, for example, transmit over long distances and are consequently perceived as threats by all mammals. This is why gorillas beat their chests and lions roar.

High frequency sounds, on the other hand, (which are quickly absorbed by the air) tend to be used by mammals to communicate in intimate situations (hush, shh) or as alarm calls. Your dog understands this language too. To warn off interlopers, it barks with a low woof, but when overwhelmed (or trying to communicate gently), it uses a high-pitched whimper.

The name can be viewed like notes on a musical scale. Each note activates sound vibrations 
that resonate with our own consciousness and all of life. Whether positive or negative, your emotions are but individual vibrations within the same force field. However, in both cases, the field upon which they manifest is the same. In reality there is only Love

Every letter in the alphabet contains specific emotional content, and these sounds (and the facial expressions that generate them) have subtle but powerful effects on our emotions. The Secret Universe of Names explains, in name-by-name examples, shows how the sounds in specific names evoke basic, gut reactions and what this means for you and yours.

The first vowel (a.e.i.o.u.) in the first name as given at birth gives the number of the inner spark or soul essence. It is the essential spark of our true self.

Names include not only names of remarkable people from the Torah, Bible and Qu’ran, but pleasing attributes, like “pleasantness” or “swiftness,” as well as names for objects, like “ewe” or “pine-tree.”

Many of the names have the word for “God” incorporated into them, so one consideration might be how pious or mundane do you your new child’s name to be.

While fads and trends come and go, faith is the most lasting influence on baby name choices around the globe.  Among all the technologically advanced countries, the United States is the only one in which a majority of citizens hold religion to be a very large influence in their lives.  

Our country was founded by individuals who escaped religious persecution, and religious freedom and expression is a fundamental element of the American Dream. One of the largest influence on baby name decisions is one’s spiritual beliefs.  Whether your style is to choose unique or popular names, spiritual and religious affiliations are the undercurrent that influences the final name decision.

If you are planning to name your children it is a good idea to see whether the meaning of the  name you choose is appropriate for your family.  A name inspired by your personal beliefs is a powerful way to give your baby a profound connection to their faith.

A persons name is one of the most important issues in people’s lives, because a person’s name is a title which says something about him, and is essential for communicating with him. It is an adornment and symbol for the person, by which he is called in this world and in the Hereafter, if you so believe.

It gives an impression of him to other people, and in their view it is like a garment. If it is too long or too short, it does not look right.

Each person born into life has a special light; unique traits and strengths that when embraced can bring about a magical transformation. With your name and its meaning, you will be empowered to become more than you have ever been, as you embrace and meld into harmony with your true nature, and begin to utilize your greatest strengths.
 
Your Name, like any word, is a series of sounds. But these are a special series of sounds exclusive to you. No other person has the same name that you do because no other person has your same gifts.

So are our names our destiny?
 They undoubtedly have influence, but “destiny” is too strong a word. “Names only have a significant influence when that is the only thing you know about the person,” says psychologist Dr. Martin Ford of George Mason University.

Just what names might be and how they relate to things in the world has been a long-standing subject for philosophical discussion and argument.

Many people live and die never discovering what their “gifts” were.

Live and Learn. We All Do.

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