"Names Have Power"

Rick Riordan, the author of The Lightning Thief, once said, “Names have power.” This quote means that every name can be traced back thousands and thousands of years and the history and the meaning of the names become a part of it. With so much powerful meaning tied to the name, it can affect a person’s life thousands of years after the event occurred. The name can either be destructive, or beneficial. The story told in Romeo and Juliet is a perfect example of how names can affect a person’s life. Romeo and Juliet are from two families, Montague and Capulet, and the families held an ancient grudge against each other. They fell in love before they realized that their families despised each other. The only reason they could not be together was because of their names. If they had not been from those two specific families, they would have been happily married, and their story would not have ended so tragically. However, names can be beneficial to a person’s life. For example, being born into a family, such as, the royal family, can benefit a person greatly. As soon as a child is born into the royal family, they automatically become famous and they are most likely next in line for the throne. Even being someone who is distantly related to the royal family can be extremely advantageous to their lives and their careers. Rick Riordan sums up perfectly the power and influence names have on life. Riordan may have meant for the quote to have a different meaning in the book, but it makes perfect sense in both the fictional book and real life.