Pondering name registration
Well what a furor over nothing much this is turning out to be. But it has got me thinking.
Why are names different? How are names different?
Item. The authenticity requirements for names keep increasing.
Item. The pool of provably authentic names keeps increasing.
Item. People care a lot about their names.
Item. Unlike clothing, armour, camping equipment etc people rarely change their name.
Item. People generally wish to be more authentic over time. The level of authenticity they anticipate desiring when they begin is probably on the low side.
Item. People chose a name really early. Usually by the time they have made their first clothing out of calico or poly-cotton they have chosen at least a given name.
Item. People's names are used a lot and can't be hidden under a throw rug.
Item. Corpora and the College require name uniqueness.
Item. Name registration is required for armory registration
This puts the College of Arms in an unenviable position and individual heralds often in an impossible position.
We can't expect people to choose "Rhiannon of the Vale of the Purple Unicorns" and improve over the seasons and years choosing new and more authentic names, even though this is probably the most desirable method as it mirrors how authenticity in clothing etc. is attained. Usually by the time people are annoyed enough by the authenticity of their name to consider changing it they are so well known by their name that they consider the evils of changing out weigh the evils of not changing. Now we also know that they can change their name, if they really want to, but usually the desire isn't great enough. Intellectually they know their name isn't very authentic but emotionally they are very attached to it. This is worst when their chosen given name is not authentic. So in a very paternalistic manner the College of Arms says "before we will register your name giving it the SCA seal of approval it has to be authentically period to the best of our current knowledge about names in your culture, because we know that this is probably our one chance to get you into an authentic name." They are in general wrong. Not in their (I suppose I should say "our" now I am on the roster) desire to get people to have authentic names. Not in their estimation that people will not change their name once it is is registered. They are wrong in thinking they have a chance to change many people's minds about their name. There are of course plenty of people who desire to be guided by the College in choosing an authentic name. However they are a small minority in my experience. However, that doesn't mean it is the right thing to just let people register whatever they want.
What should the College of Arms do?
Name uniqueness is the greatest of the evils that should be fixed, but I don't expect it will go away anytime soon, if ever, because in general most people in the Society either want name uniquness or don't care enough about it to do more than bitch about it on mailing lists. If I am flooded with blanket permission to conflict letters then I will take that back, but I'm not expecting more than two.
There should be serious consideration to the divorcing of name and armory registration. It won't mean that there are more authentic names in the Society, but it will mean that less people will hate the heralds. Which will mean that I get less bitchy emails. So that can't be bad can it? The question is will it mean there are appreciably less authentic names in the Society? I genuinely believe that it would have little effect on the authenticity of names in the Society. It will mean that the College can genuinely say "you don't have to register your name so it is no problem to you if we have reasonably strict standards of authenticity."
No doubt my ideas on this will change, as they are certainly a work in progress. In the meantime:
http://medievalscotland.org/sca/cenu.shtml
Why are names different? How are names different?
Item. The authenticity requirements for names keep increasing.
Item. The pool of provably authentic names keeps increasing.
Item. People care a lot about their names.
Item. Unlike clothing, armour, camping equipment etc people rarely change their name.
Item. People generally wish to be more authentic over time. The level of authenticity they anticipate desiring when they begin is probably on the low side.
Item. People chose a name really early. Usually by the time they have made their first clothing out of calico or poly-cotton they have chosen at least a given name.
Item. People's names are used a lot and can't be hidden under a throw rug.
Item. Corpora and the College require name uniqueness.
Item. Name registration is required for armory registration
This puts the College of Arms in an unenviable position and individual heralds often in an impossible position.
We can't expect people to choose "Rhiannon of the Vale of the Purple Unicorns" and improve over the seasons and years choosing new and more authentic names, even though this is probably the most desirable method as it mirrors how authenticity in clothing etc. is attained. Usually by the time people are annoyed enough by the authenticity of their name to consider changing it they are so well known by their name that they consider the evils of changing out weigh the evils of not changing. Now we also know that they can change their name, if they really want to, but usually the desire isn't great enough. Intellectually they know their name isn't very authentic but emotionally they are very attached to it. This is worst when their chosen given name is not authentic. So in a very paternalistic manner the College of Arms says "before we will register your name giving it the SCA seal of approval it has to be authentically period to the best of our current knowledge about names in your culture, because we know that this is probably our one chance to get you into an authentic name." They are in general wrong. Not in their (I suppose I should say "our" now I am on the roster) desire to get people to have authentic names. Not in their estimation that people will not change their name once it is is registered. They are wrong in thinking they have a chance to change many people's minds about their name. There are of course plenty of people who desire to be guided by the College in choosing an authentic name. However they are a small minority in my experience. However, that doesn't mean it is the right thing to just let people register whatever they want.
What should the College of Arms do?
Name uniqueness is the greatest of the evils that should be fixed, but I don't expect it will go away anytime soon, if ever, because in general most people in the Society either want name uniquness or don't care enough about it to do more than bitch about it on mailing lists. If I am flooded with blanket permission to conflict letters then I will take that back, but I'm not expecting more than two.
There should be serious consideration to the divorcing of name and armory registration. It won't mean that there are more authentic names in the Society, but it will mean that less people will hate the heralds. Which will mean that I get less bitchy emails. So that can't be bad can it? The question is will it mean there are appreciably less authentic names in the Society? I genuinely believe that it would have little effect on the authenticity of names in the Society. It will mean that the College can genuinely say "you don't have to register your name so it is no problem to you if we have reasonably strict standards of authenticity."
No doubt my ideas on this will change, as they are certainly a work in progress. In the meantime:
http://medievalscotland.org/sca/cenu.shtml