What's in a Name?

[Pam]

There could have been many appropriate titles for this book. Why do you think the author chose the title SOMEONE KNOWS MY NAME? Share your insights on the significance of one's name, how important is one's name to you?

[Diana]

I think it is significant because the heroine seldom heard her name uttered. She was called several different names which tended to dehumanize her. When she heard her own name she felt valued, important, and human.

[M.E.]

It was important when they were down below in the ship. It gave them confidence when someone called out there name. It meant a great deal to them that someone knew their name. This title was emphasized in the early part of the book when the heroine first accompanied the medicine man down through the ship and people started calling out their names.

[Carol]

In your question you mentioned the Book we are reading called Someone Knows My Name. Every book we read, has a title or a label that tells us what it probably is about. A subtitle of this book was "The Book of Negroes" To me I didn't see much correlation between the two of them. Yet, what is it really about. This book addresses Negroes and the look at what they can be, have been, and how they interact with others.

[Carol]

Pam, as I was reading some of the responses and re-reading your questions, I got to thinking, what was it about this book that inspired you and created interest enough that you chose to pick it for your book club pick. That often is interesting for me to know. Would enjoy learning of your answer.

[Chelsea]

I loved how she knew it was Chekura because he could say her real name. And at the end when the queen calls her by Aminata she decides all white people can do it too. Names are special and become a part of us. I never had people who mispronounced my name much but misspelling my maiden name happened all the time (Nielsen) and I hated it when that happened. I think Aminata felt the same way, plus it helped tie her to her African home she missed.

[Pam]

I think names are important - in the scriptures we know the names of some people before they have been born. I had a very special experience while my husband and I were in the process of adopting our second child where Heavenly Father told me the name to name our daughter - and this came without inquiry from either of us. I think it's interesting tho that the girls who do my nails (largely from Vietnam) use American names instead of their given names. I don't think i would change my name if I moved to Vietnam or anywhere else. I also think it's interesting that Aminata didn't name her daughter an African name but and American name - May. Her son she did name after her father tho.

[Diana]

I know quite a few people from China and they use American names so that we, Americans, can pronounce their names. It is not because they don't like their names. My own name is often mispronounced leaving the "a" off the end. If I correct someone, which I rarely do, they act all offended that I won't accept their pronunciation!

[Darlene]

I think the author chose this title because he wanted us to remember and think about how our names make us special. When we do not have a name, we are just another face, just another breathing being. But when we have a specific name attached to us--be it a good name or a "bad" nickname/name, it becomes part of our identity.

[Pam]

I love all your comments! I just had a thought that maybe their NAME was all they had. They had been stripped (literally) of everything, all they had was their name...

[Darlene]

Pam wrote: "I love all your comments! I just had a thought that maybe their NAME was all they had. They had been stripped (literally) of everything, all they had was their name..."

Yes, absolutely! I agree! I think that indeed all they had was their name. They had no possessions to speak of, and in fact, were often only given what few strips of clothing they had by their owners or masters. Everything except their name belonged to someone else, and even then, the owners often changed the slaves' names trying to take away even that one thing that belonged to them.

[Diana S]

Did anyone know that the original title of this book is :

The Book of Negroes
Do you like name of the original title or the second title? Would it made a difference in the way you perceived the book?

[Carol]

Diana S - When you review the different comments you will find where different ones of us have commented on such. In my own reading, it was discussed a lot, and Hill had to change names for different places it was published.

[Chelsea]

I like the Someone Knows My Name better. To me, the Book of Negros is the ship log and not a work of fiction.

[Carol]

I agree with Chelsea for the exact same reasons. In my extra study, however I was surprised at the folks that pulled for the Second title.