The power of naming

With names we create entire worlds of logic and imagination | Janie B. Cheaney

Illustration by Krieg Barrie

One of the privileges of parenting is that it allows us to grow up again through our children, with a little perspective gained. A privilege of grandparenting is that it allows us to observe the growing-up from a longer perspective. You notice things that you didn't notice in your own childhood self, or your children's.

Now that my granddaughter, barely 5, has a firm grasp on language (i.e., talks all the time), it's interesting to track how she came by it. At the age of 3 she would often begin conversations with strangers by introducing people she knew: "This is my grandma. Her name is ... Grandma." I thought it might be a way of establishing some control, of venturing into alien territory with a firm grasp on the familiar. She would also make up names for people she met but would not likely see again, such as an instant friend at the playground. When talking about the little boy or girl later, she would ask what their name was, but then go on to call them something else, often a compound name invented on the spot. Perhaps she understood that the person would not be part of her everyday life, leaving her free to call them anything she liked.