What's in a name?

I find names to be fascinating, not necessarily the name itself but the story behind why one is given his or her name. A child that was recently born in a fellow volunteer's village was given her middle name Ruzena. Children are often named after famous events, people, and sometimes even natural disasters such as cyclones in Madagascar. In a country where children often don't know their own birthdate, one can sometimes take an educated guess based on their names. For instance my friend's niece is named Noel, since she was born around Christmas. One's offspring is a source of pride here, since they are their parent's life insurance in old age. Adults are often called their children's names followed by the title Mama or Papa. My personal favorites are: Mama Tasse (Mother Cup), Mama Piso (Mother Cat), Mama Valo (Mother Eight, I'm going to guess she ran out of good ideas for baby names after her eighth child). Its as if after becoming a parent your identity ceases to be linked to you as an individual but rather as a mother or father. Individualism isn't necessarily a characteristic one takes pride in here. Once I asked my neighbor's son what his name was. He answered Bogosy meaning handsome. I laughed and flirtingly responded, "yes and my name is Beautiful." I blushed when I discovered this really is his name.