What’s in a name?

How interesting.

I was preparing for a workshop I’m delivering tomorrow.

It’s about networking and partnership marketing and one of my pearls of wisdom was a series of opening lines to use when networking (I hate that bit) anyway one is “Do you know what your name means.”

I thought it only professional on my part to be able to answer heckles from the floor; “well do YOU?”

So I prepared myself and got quite a shock.

OK.  So I’ve always known my forename was drawn from the Roman God of war Mars and means ‘Warlike’.

But I’d never ever researched my surname.

Continuing the warlike strand the Germanic meaning of Gorman is Spear or Protection.

Some would say this hideously aggressive combination reflects quite a lot of my personality.

But I’m of Irish, not Germanic, descent and in Gaelic Gorman means little blue eyed one.  Awwww.

As I was about to sign off the Urban Dictionary caught the corner of my eye.

“There’s a definition of Gorman in Urban Dictionary?”  I mused.

Wonder what it says.

There were NINE.

Let’s start with the main entry.  A shyster.

Surely it gets better…

It does.  The coolest man alive.  I’ll settle for that.

Where next I wondered?  This surely must be the Gorman’s from Aberdeen definition (but it could be the alternative Irish definition I suppose).

It’s getting worse.  An inability to civily take a poo?

Or to behave appropriately in restaurants.

Given that all three of my kids do or have this is a major worry.

The next one just makes me sad.

But the following definition is definitely appropriate for the golf course.

I know this well.

(So does Tom.)

I’ll save the best for last because my dear departed mother in law would have chuckled at this.  Turns out she was a true Gorman.