Yclept

When did we start using names to call people?  Without a language, there couldn't have been any names. Scientists say human language only appeared about 100,000 years ago. How did humans call each other before that? Did they call each other "Psst Psst?"

Talking of names there is one fun thing I can say about my family. 

When it comes to names in my family, it is one big puzzle to those who don't know us very closely. My family name is supposed to be Fernando, but I am a Thilakarathna. But two generations up, the surname used was Rodrigo. So people often question my father why he is Thilakarathna and not Rodrigo.  

My grandfather's father, who was a Fernando named his children First name + Rodrigo after a sudda fella; a dear friend of him. My grandfather named all his children in Sinhala first + middle names adding the surname Rodrigo. But as his boys grew up, he encouraged them to drop the foreign surname. So, my father started using his middle name as his surname. When he named us, he dropped Rodrigo entirely and gave Thilakarathna as our family name. 

Thilakarathna, Rodrigo or Fernando: I am happy to be a Thilakarathna. I don't think I will make peace with the way my name echoes with Rodrigo or Fernando. Most of all, I am proud and happy my family understood that a legacy of a family name is an additional burden on this eternally painful life. I am glad I don't have to prove myself to be a true Fernando or a Rodrigo. I still don't know what it means to be a Thilakarathna too.