What Does Your Name Say About You?

It may be no mystery why your neighbor keeps calling you 'Elizabeth', even though your mailbox says 'Liz'. But did you ever wonder why your nephew calls you 'Bessie', your office mate calls you 'Bess', your mother calls you Beth?

The reason is that the letters of the alphabet actually mean something... For example, look at the words that start with 'st'. Whether steadfast or just plain stubborn, they're almost all really stuck in one place (stop, stick, stand, stall, stoic, store, stack, still...), unless of course there's a raring, rearing, roaring 'r' in there who can get your 'st' 'started'. There's a science called sound symbolism where they study what the letters mean.

So the 'y' at the end of 'Bessie' is young and energetic, and makes 'Bessie' easier to cuddle up with than just plain 'Bess'. The 's' is strong and supportive, which suggests that your office mate thinks of you that way. The 'b' at the beginning usually suggests a strong, outgoing person with a grand sense of humor and also, I'm sorry to say, something of a temper. But the 'th' at the end of 'Beth' channels all that energy through a very narrow opening and tones the name down a whole lot, which I'm sure your mother appreciates. A 'Beth' is an initiator who channels her energy toward a specific goal. And the 'l' in 'Liz' is the passive but very powerful feminine force of water and air.

Do you want know the hidden message in your name? Find the stressed syllable in your name and then analyze it from this list. (like the stressed syllable in Elizabeth is the LIZ.) The consonants before the vowel are like the stage backdrop for the personality of your name. The vowels tell you how you tend to go through life, address issues, solve problems, and the final consonants are the punch line, the outcome.

Vowels

'short a' - balanced and flat
'long a' - elastic and spread out wide
'short e' - not a boat-rocker, works hard and connects things together
'long e' - a long distance runner, stamina in the face of hardship
'short i' - moves up-up-up, light and a bit tense
'long i' - roomy, oriented toward mind and art
'short o' - the most fundamental sound, the source and beginning of all things
'long o' - well-rounded, whole, and earthy
'short u' - plenty of room in 'u', thoughtful and relaxed
'long u' - goes with the flow, fast moving and rounded

Consonants

'b' - Kaboom! 'b' is a sudden, powerful beginning, high spirits and hot tempers.
'c' - if pronounced like in 'Cecilia', see 's'. If pronounced like in 'Cathy', see 'k'.
'ch' - I think I can. I think I can... 'ch' is a hero, the achiever of difficult tasks
'd' - a door midstream, the letter who decides whether a project should be shut down, or opened up wide and allowed to happen.
'f' - a fountain or foundation. The 'f' is funny, fanciful, spontaneous. It's the freest floater of the letters.
'g' - if pronounced like in 'Gillian', see 'j', if pronounced like 'Gail', it is the giver and receiver of gifts. 'g's the most generous and also (watch out) the most greedy of the letters. It's very good-hearted, but it can get pretty grumpy on the off-days. And 'g' has a mysterious hidden source of wealth and wisdom. It's like mother earth where the garden grows.
'h' - the home where things belong. 'h' is a kind of force that looks over your shoulder like a parent and either knows how to help you out or (need I mention it?) really cramps your style.
'j' - the edge on which things only fit in single file, and if you don't watch it, you fall... well... real far... 'j' is the sound of the 'judge', the leader, the one who guides others through the troubles that (have you noticed?) tend to pop up from time to time.
'k' - a room where some things are allowed in or even captured, and where other things are definitely not cool. The 'k' is in the know and keeps its secrets. It's the most caring and intimate of letters, but when it's not careful, 'k' gets snobby and cuts people off.
'l' - like light, air and water that take up space but have no specific shape. 'l' is more passive and feminine, light and lovely than 'r' or 'b', but it does definitely have a mysterious force of its own that gets its way by going with the flow.
'm' - the maker: 'm' is the mother, and also magician and master of skills.
'n' - 'n' is like a line that gets closer and closer on to something. It's subtle, thoughtful, wise and noble.
'ng' - long, stretchy and musical. It gathers things up into itself.
'p' - a very specific point at which things are placed and from which they are pulled away. The 'p' is a problem solver, precise and particular. 'p' likes everything to be out in the open, no secrets here.
'qu' - See 'k' plus 'w'... 'qu' is a seeker after truth, the curious, willful explorer of all the possible paths
'r' - Roar! - 'r' is really a handful. It has no direction of its own, and it's all the other letters can do to handle it. If they don't succeed, 'r' becomes the rabble rouser that brings down the house. If they do, there's no other letter that has so much energy to make things happen.
's' - the life force which reinforces what is already there. It's often suave, sexy, strong and flexible. Unlike 'r', it looks very intelligently before it leaps. But like 'r' it's also very strong, if not so destructive. Still, it can slowly crush something it doesn't like, or it can stand firm and hold the world on its shoulders.
'sh' - is a shield that's hard to get through. It can either hold everybody away or protect something that needs to be cared for. 'sh' can also be broken, and when that happens, it realistically shrugs it all off and moves on.
't' - Temptation. 't' is the letter of the dreamer, the designer of grand schemes, the traveller| who follows her star
'th' - a perilous path, that can be both thrilling and terrifying. Either way, you've learned something.
'v' - very, smooth, vibrating energy. 'v' tends to avoid things, but if caught, it becomes the faithful servant, not the master.
'w' - the will, water, waves, and states other than the here and now - the future the past, the 'what if''? 'w' is the sound of the mature woman (not man), who knows what she wants and (for better or for worse!) knows how to get it.
'y' - Sure! I'm game! - 'y' is naive, trusting, energetic, and expansive
'z' - Zoom, a line along which you zip very fast and which begins or ends in who knows?

Adapted from http://www.conknet.com/~mmagnus/Names.html
(c) Margaret Magnus