“That which we call a ROSE by another other name would smell as sweet.”

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Pink rosebudWas I named because of a love for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet?

No.

Was I conceived after a my mom received a dozen roses from my dad?

No.

Was I named after a sled?

No.

Was I named for Rosebud Salve?Rosebud Salve

No, but I have a tin of the sweet stuff, a thoughtful gift from my son.

Where did my name come from?

Following the Jewish tradition of naming children after a deceased relation, I was given my paternal grandmother’s name.

Rosebud was my nickname, and is still used  — infrequently —  because, as I point out, the bloom is off the rose, and I am no longer a bud.

However, I do smell as sweet because I am an anomaly.

I have no body odor.

Never did.

I’ve never used deodorant and have never needed to use it.

It’s true.

Even after working out at the gym during an especially difficult Boot Camp class or after a couple of days hiking on a hot, dirty, dusty trail— I don’t smell bad.

In fact, I smell sweet.

You can ask my tugboat man.

I say, “Smell me, don’t I smell good?”

Laughing, he complies, and says it’s a miracle.

No. I’M the miracle.

“That which we call PRINCESS ROSEBUD by any other name would smell as sweet.”

And I DO.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Romeo and Juliet

In Act II, Scene II of the play, the line is said by Juliet in reference to Romeo’s house, Montague which would imply that his name means nothing and they should be together.

Juliet:

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.

Romeo:

[Aside] Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?

Juliet:

‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What’s Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.

Romeo:

I take thee at thy word:
Call me but love, and I’ll be new baptized;
Henceforth I never will be Romeo.

Daily Prompt: Name that… You!

by michelle w. on September 2, 2013

Do you know the meaning of your name, and why your parents chose it? Do you think it suits you? What about your children’s names?

Photographers, artists, poets: show us IDENTITY.

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43 thoughts on ““That which we call a ROSE by another other name would smell as sweet.””

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  7. Your name is my middle name 🙂 If the kid had been a girl, I would have broken tradition (I am the third generation with this name) and used Violet as a middle name instead.

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  16. Oh, how I wish I was afflicted with your “not smell” gene! I was supposed to be named for a movie star but because my father spelled my name wrong when he filled out my birth certificate, I ended up being named after a biblical character instead.

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  18. My mother n amed me after both of my grandmothers.They called her mother “Antonietta”.She thought that was too much to hang on a little kid in America so she got cute with it.Hence:”Tonette”.(Only many years later did I realize that my grandmother’s name was actually “Antonia” , which would have made life soooo much easier for me). Since she cut her mother’s name, and my father’s mother had been “Martha” she chopped the h out of it (!) and so my middle name is “Marta”. Ppeolpe always turned my name around, since “Joyce ” is a woman’s first name in America, as opposed to a last name in Ireland.
    I married a man with a very difficult last name that is funny when heard pronounced properly, so I gave our sons really basic, normal names.

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    • I think Tonette is a beautiful name. I never really liked my (real) name. I like Princess Rosebud much better! I wanted to name my son Colin but it sounded too much like “colon” and we didn’t want him teased; his real name is very long. It’s Jason Nathaniel Van Nostrand (and then his last name). Nathaniel was for my dad and Van Nostrand was for one of my exhub’s illustrious ancestors.

      On Mon, Sep 9, 2013 at 6:24 PM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo

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      • Thanks, but no one remembered “Tonette” and believe me, the home permanent jokes, toes in nets and anything else has been bad..I think that’s why I LOVE the Internet; people keep seeing it so they can’t forget it…even my own father used to spell it with two n’s, (which should tel you something about our relationship…not real close). I learned to answer to ,”Uh…uh..” .That is the sound of someone behind me who wants to tell me something, but can’t think of my name! And people figure I’m French, which I’m not, although Claudette Colbert had an influence on why my name ends as it does.

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      • I’m afraid it was even worse than that ,R.The children’s version of a Toni home perm was actually called a “Tonette”. What is satisfying is when some woman says it to me now, I throw it in her face that she is showing her age!
        Mom liked the characters C.C. played, strong but feminine women.That’s what she hoped for in me.

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