A Name

While at my Ob/Gyn appointment last week, I noticed my file was red-stamped with "Same Name-Verify Patient", so apparently there is another Caroline Richards in Portland.  I found myself wondering who is this person, what does she look like, what does she do, is she a mom, married, what are her interests.
My friend, Joe Mooney, also realized that he shares the name with another local Joe Mooney.  He has spoken to him over the phone once and the guy said he wished he was him because he gets alot of phone calls, and wished he had as many friends.  Both Joe's have wives named Aimee too!
There are some who believe that your name determines your destiny.  The idea that our names are intertwined with our destinies goes at least as far back as the book of Genesis in the Bible, when Abram saw his name changed to Abraham, which means  "father of multitudes" in Hebrew.
In more recent years, social psychology research has connected people's names to decisions they make in whom to marry, what street to live on and what they do for a living — all based on how similar the names were to a person’s own name.  My Uncle's middle name is Hartsfield, and he is a heart surgeon.  I wonder if the other Caroline Richards has made similiar choices in her life as I have.  I wonder what outcome my children's lives will have based on the names Josh and I selected for them.  What will "Richards" be to them?
Wow--heady, philosophical stuff!!
A name is an interesting thing to contemplate.