Michael Luna

What is With Utopian Names?

            The naming of an object has always played an important role in human development. In the Bible, naming is an important part of the creation of all things. God provides the names of day and night for example. Adam names his wife Eve and provides names to the animals. These acts establish an important tradition of naming which has carried on to the present day. Creators of various utopias are aware of this tradition as well as the importance that a name can suggest about the person named. As I have read the different utopian and dystopian texts in class, I have kept track of the different names that have been assigned to characters in an effort to find out what significance the names have. Some of the names are obvious in their intention, while others have left me befuddled and searching through more websites and re-reading passages in order to construe some sort of evidence that provides the purpose of the name or even why the author felt that a particular name was befitting of certain utopian characters. To simplify this task, I only look into the names of those who are part of a utopian society or those that try to explain what a utopian society is.

            The first subjects of my inquiry centered on characters in Utopia and Herland. Sir, or Saint, Thomas More introduced readers to a character by the name of Raphael Hythloday. More was Catholic and the reasoning behind the name of Raphael should be obvious. Raphael is perhaps the most well known archangel and it known, in the Catholic tradition, as the Patron Saint of Travelers. The archangel Raphael is also associated with healing, but I am certain that this aspect of Raphael did not relate with the character in More’s story. I found it amusing when I finally managed to track down the name Hythloday. The name Hythloday is of Greek origin and it is a word that means “talker of nonsense” (Ekhart). This was a very interesting combination of names. This last name does seem to send a message to the reader of Utopia as it illustrates that the island community that Raphael is speaking of does not exist at all. I wondered if there was any significance behind the name Hythloday when I first read Utopia and now that I have found what the name means, it gives the story a different aspect and meaning. More, Peter Giles and Cardinal Morton learn about the island of Utopia through Raphael’s story telling, but the discovery of the meaning of his last name reveals that everything he is saying is nonsense.

            Charlotte Perkins Gilman also does something interesting with the names of her characters. The women in this story have unique names that do not seem to have a meaning at all, but through research, I have found what possible roots and bases these names were based upon. When I discovered these possibilities, once again the story opens itself to a different meaning. Three of the women named in Herland are Alima, Celis, and Ellador. Glancing at these names, they seem exotic and imaginary yet research into these names reveals some actual and some possible meanings. Alima is both an Arabic and Muslim name. This name can mean either sea maiden or wise. Based on the theme that Perkins Gilman has running through this story, it is clear that the name indicates that Alima is wise in that she did not stay with Terry after their marriage and he tried to force himself upon her. This indicates wisdom on her part because of her refusal to partake in an unequal relationship. Celis could possibly be a variation of the name Celistine. The name Celistine means heavenly and this fits the character of Celis. In Herland, Celis becomes the first woman in Herland to have a child that has a father in the two-thousand year history of Herland. Ellador was a difficult name to procure. In my search, I believe that this name is based on either Ellard or Ella. The name Ellard means brave and the name Ella means beautiful fairy. Ellador is the character that leaves Herland with Van so the bravery aspect of the name makes sense as do the exploits that Ellador partook in when she saved the trees. She is also described as a beautiful woman who is athletic, which can lead the reader to see her as the perfect woman. At first, these names seem to be randomly created since they are not typical names that are used by Americans of the time. Yet, Charlotte Perkins Gilman was not the typical American of her time. She was a woman who was intelligent and she utilized names that have a deep meaning to them.

            The story Anthem, by Ayn Rand, also utilizes names that have a meaning behind them. The main characters are named Equality and Liberty, which foreshadows the role that these two play as the story develops. The rest of people in Anthem have names that reflect what is wanted most in a utopian society. These names are ones such as Unity, Fraternity, Similarity, Collective, Unanimity, International and Union. In the utopian society that Rand creates, the names symbolize that all people are of one mind and that all people have one end goal. To be different, in Rand’s utopia, is something that is wrong. It is a sin. People in a utopian society are also supposed to be equals and have liberty from any sort of tyranny that may have existed before the formation of the utopian society. Rand, however, utilizes the characters of Equality and Liberty as people who want more in life than the tedious order that their utopian society deems fit. When they obtain freedom from society and begin their own, there is another name change that occurs. Equality renames himself Prometheus and he gives Liberty the name Gaea. Each of these names is important as it is Prometheus who provided men with fire according to Greek mythology and Gaea is mother earth, the mother of all life. Rand uses these names to indicate that Equality, now Prometheus, is going to play a role that involves him bringing a new kind of light to humanity while Liberty, now Gaea, is going to provide life for this new vision of the world. There is nothing difficult in the names chosen by Rand, but the reader has to appreciate what she has done with the use of names.

            Although I have found out about the names of three of the stories we have read, this research has left me with even more questions than when I first began. In some ways, I did receive an answer to my initial question. There are definite reasons why the writers picked certain names for their characters. Just as we pick names for various aspects in our lives, writers will pick names that best suit their character, even if the name sounds as though it is nonsensical. I do wonder though what happened to this use of names in more modern utopian novels. Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach does not use very meaningful names. William Weston and Marissa do not conjure up interesting historical ties or deep meanings. Two of Atwood’s characters in Oryx and Crake are named after animals, which do not have that much of a meaning. Atwood provides a description of when Crake chose his name and when Oryx chose her name, but there does not appear to be any depth involved. I wonder if the writers from long ago needed to use names in a more symbolic way due to the limited knowledge of the rest of society. Looking at the historical aspects of each of the earlier utopian novels, only intellectuals would have read the stories. Are the readers of today on the level of the old world intellectuals? Could this be why modern writers do not use symbolic names as much in stories? Perhaps the use of symbolic names is just cliché now and is to be avoided. Only further research will help me solve these literary riddles.