what's in a name?

I suppose that most of us think that our name marks us out as being unique, don't we? And I say suppose, because if your name happens to be Bob Smith you probably have to get used to there being a lot of you about - and that you're quite likely to bump into another Bob Smith or two in your journey through life. But that's not very likely for most of us, is it? Have you ever met somebody with exactly the same name as you?

Now I guess that most of you reading this will think of me as being David The Designer. Which is just one of my names, of course. And if you've been coming here for a while then you'll know that it's best not to call me Dave. But what if I didn't mind being called Dave? Well, maybe then I could move to Sydney, Australia and become Dave the Designer. Or pitch up in Minnesota, where I could assume the identity of Designer Dave.

What got me thinking about all of this was a look at my Studio Hyde statistics, where I see that somebody has been searching for 'David Hyde Design' and 'Dave Hyde Designer' - and wondering who that might be. So I guess it's the 'designer' tag that makes me unique. That separates me from the other David Hyde's in this world.

But wouldn't it be fun if we could assume the identities of our namesakes - at least for a short while. And just look at who I could be:

David Hyde the Tax Lawyer. The wig might suit me, mightn't it?

Or I might retire and take up painting. Then I have would have two choices:

I could be this David Hyde the Artist; or

this one (though the beard would have to go).

Or perhaps I'd give up blogging, take up Twittering, move to Seattle and become...

...a radio producer.

But actually, what I'd rather do, more than anything else, is become a New Orleans bass player:

The one on the left, obviously.

Comments

[Mike Reed]

I've known since people were singing, "Mike Read, Mike Read, 275 and 285, Mike Read, Mike Read, National Radio One!" at me that a name is no marker of uniqueness.

Sigh.

(Mind you, one of my clients is called David Cameron. He works with a Robbie Williams, and was recently asked to set up a meeting with a Sinead O'Connor. I kid you not.)

[alexparrott]

I always thought that my name was pretty unique, until I found this

http://alexparrott.com/alexsite/bio.html

when I was getting ready to launch this

http://www.alexparrott.co.uk/

[davidthedesigner]

It's also interesting that our namesakes also seem to be involved in creative activities of some sort or another (the tax lawyer being the notable exception, in my case). I wonder if the same would be true if you were, say, a dentist or an accountant?

[caroline]

apparently, there are links in names and occupations .... I can't remember the book in which I read that. Great Post again David its making me smile right now.