I was really proud that I was named after Thomas Edison and wanted to be called Edson. I thought Pele sounded horrible. It was a rubbish name. Edson sounded so much more serious and important.
I was named Rohan from the great West Indian cricketer Rohan Kanhai.
I was born in Swansea in the Principality of Wales in September 1934 and named Clive William John Granger. The 'William John' names were traditional Granger boy's names, and my mother liked the name Clive because some popular musician at the time had it.
I think when you are named Noah, you are destined for a certain way of life.
Shamir and Nasir were my homeboys. They were from Philly and they're Muslim. I'm not a Muslim, but I liked their names. They were like, 'your name starts with an N, so just come up with Nahmir.' So I just put 'Nah' in front of 'Amir.'
I've felt like my last name put pressure on me as an artist. If you're going to call yourself "Legend," you'd better make some good-ass music.
I was looking for a last name that was a first name. Growing up, I knew a kid who was the most obnoxious kid I ever knew, and his last name was Herman.
Chicks named Tammy have a greater chance of actually driving a Mercedes than a chick named Mercedes.
My mother wanted to name me Jackie or Jacqueline but she got to name my sister and my brother, so my dad and my brother insisted on naming me. And they were big fans of 'The Little Mermaid.'
There was a best-selling book in the late '60s and '70s called 'The Adventurers' by Harold Robbins. The lead character's name was Dax. Anyone that's roughly my age that's named Dax is named from that book.
I think if I would have started BIG in America, I would probably never have called it BIG. There was nothing but a little bit of local small country humor in the idea.
My parents named me after Uriah the Hittite, one of King David's mighty men in the Old Testament of the Bible, who was known for his fearlessness. I've thought about it, and there may be a connection between my name and my personality.
Sometimes I think that people's characters get forged, at least in part, from their names.
Names have a mysterious transforming power. Like a ring on a finger, a name may at first seem merely accidental, committing you to nothing; but before you realize its magical power, it's gotten under your skin, become part of you and your destiny.
Don't name it, as they say, because instantly you offer it to this peculiar authority.
The name we give to something shapes our attitude toward it.
