The power of name

Names can be powerful.

Consider the names of places which but for their prominence in military annals would be unknown to most of us, names like Thermopylae, Milvian Bridge, Lepanto, and Waterloo. We hear the names of these locations and are ennobled by the recollection of the history-shaping events they witnessed. Names can be inspiring. They can also be frightening and, in a perverted way, instructive. Think of Dresden, Guernica and Hiroshima.

A new place name now lodges itself in our collective memory. We cannot yet grasp its full significance, but even now it informs us enough about the insanity and brutality of the war in Ukraine. It is Mariupol, the name of that port city in southeastern Ukraine which has all but been destroyed by Russian bombs. What sentiments will this name arouse in us and our children in the years ahead. What lessons will it carry?

Other towns and cities, of course, are also victims of Russia’s invasion. As a result, one-quarter of Ukraine’s forty million inhabitants have been dislocated and millions have fled the country into neighboring countries.

Ukraine – another name that now stirs and focuses the compassion of much of the world. Readers will be interested to know that over the past seven weeks hundreds of donors have contributed over one million dollars to the fund at the National Community Foundation established by Caritas Internationalis on behalf of Ukraine. Many of these funds have been matched by the employers of donors or by organizations like Amazon. The advisor responsible for recommending how these funds are to be used to address the Ukrainian crisis is the Caritas headquarters in the Vatican. Donors are able to make tax deductible contributions with the assurance that their financial support will be effectively and efficiently used to relieve unimaginable human suffering. This overwhelming response is indeed impressive. We at NCCF are both humble and proud to be able to serve our donors and the people of Ukraine in this capacity.

As with the names of places, the names of individuals in history and literature can carry such forcefulness that today they too are used as adjectives, common nouns or verbs. Think of Solomon and Solomonic judgement, Socrates and the Socratic method, Hercules and herculean, Epicurus and epicures, Boycott and boycotts, Mrs. Malaprop and malapropism, or William Lynch and ‘to lynch’. In a concentrated way a single name can transport a depth and breadth of meaning the successful conveyance of which would otherwise require an articulate writer employing multiple words. Names are powerful.

Another new name now registers on our mental list, another with a powerful connotation. So significant will it be that future generations may well use it as noun, verb and adjective interchangeably.  As a noun it will equate to valor; as an adjective, to fearless; and as a verb to persevere against all odds.

The name is Zelensky.