The Most Beautiful Word

The most beautiful word in any language is your name. This is not contestable! Regardless of your language, your name is superlative. It represents you because it is your primary means of identification.

According to wikipedia, a name is regarded as a label for a noun which identifies a specific unique and identifiable individual person. There is peculiarity or distinctiveness in the way and manner a name relates to a language be it English, French or Yoruba.

In the ancient world, names were thought to be extremely powerful and to act, in some ways, as a separate manifestation of a person or deity. This is evident in the statement made by Juliet (in the drama, Romeo and Juliet): "What is in a name? That which call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet". There's indeed power in a name.

Less wonder, it is opined to be a treasure better than gold. Instinctively, your name goes beyond your look, wealth and gold. It's your legacy. Some died preserving or protecting their names because it surely lived after them. Names transcend years and even centuries.

It is my understanding that there is everything in a name. For every name is connected with a form. In our Yoruba thought, naming a child is given a great importance. My parents had migrated from Akungba Akoko to Kaduna in Nigeria where they waited a while before I was born. My parents' joy of God's intervention and victory became the basis of my name. I was named "Oluwasegunfunmi (Olusegun for short)" and during my teenage, my mother explained to me that Olusegun means God has given me victory.

Sooner, I became conscious of the magnitude of my name coupled with the fact that I am an epitome of victory. This started vibrating in my psyche. A keen sense of self-reliance, growth, compassion, discipline, dedication, diligence, audacity, love, vigour and steadfastness became the extended meanings of the name. The person within me got transformed. Instead of pitying, sympathising my humble beginning, I started redefining life itself in my own unique way.

Yes there is everything in a name. Even today my name is my guide and a challenge in itself motivating me to live to it's meaning. The vibrating force behind the name is the GOD factor. No wonder, in my own part of the world, noone prays without my name being mentioned because it is the most beautiful word in the whole world.