I know not at all from whence that term originated, but it's one of those things that most of us can agree upon; it is steeped in genuine wisdom. And to my reckoning, is a pearl of two-fold wisdom. Let's explore this, which will allow us to thoughtfully arrive at a place that could bring our subject matter into controversy. But what good is life, if not without a little piece of the 'c' word, eh?

The most easily accessible understanding of the term is when applied in the business world. Brand names are most important for the key reason of quick recall - I won't even start to list those leading names, as I've been instructed of a certain word count by the editor, and as a person who is often accused of having way too much to say, I have taught myself to instantly recognise a potential verbal rabbit hole looming before me.

So it goes without saying, when starting a business, you must be careful of your word choices. Even when creating a word that doesn't actually exist, like Microsoft (you see, I had to name drop at least one!), the amalgamation of the words, microchip & software is oh so cleverly executed.

The entertainment side of business has to be just as sensitive; song names, which could even have in brackets the catchy hook, are great examples of name strength. The international hit,  Blue (Da Ba Dee) by Eiffel 65 is a song title that is a mixture of both English and colourful phonics. Truly extraordinary.

Further focusing on the entertainment industry, we can take a look at the world of movies, and possibly THEE biggest naming scandal in the history of mankind – The Shawshank Redemption! Coined the greatest film in history which nobody saw [at the time of release]. And this was all down to the title. I can personally swear to this, because back when there were LDs, we were having a movie night at a friend's place, and I vividly recall my thought patterns after he answered my enquiry as to what we were watching, “The Shawshank Redemption”. To which I in turn replied, “What kind of c*** is that?!”

And boy oh boy... was I made to eat those most distasteful words & thoughts... To this day, it remains one of my favourite movies of all time!

So all of this comes down to big business, whether it be food brands, clothing labels, song titles or movie names. But, what if we were to take this discussion to a place that is more personable. IE, people's names. This is where the dreaded 'c' word suddenly rears its ugly head and begins its search of sweeping and unreasonably dastardly thoughts or opinions.

At some level, I can understand this; 'Can a person's name affect their personality, and thus their life?' 

Well, after almost three score years of living, I know there's more than enough meat on this bone of discussion that warrants inviting you all to this table for such topical a feast.

I will start by asking you the following question; “Do you know anyone named, Phil”? This person also always refers to themself as, Phil, and not, Philip. Well, I will state here, that this 'Phil' you know, is more than likely SUCCESFUL. Either fiscally, or culturally. It doesn't matter the personality type, he will most certainly be a person who is doing something standout from the crowd.

How do I know this? Because indeed of the near six decades I've been on this planet. To not notice the pattern, would be downright ridiculous. I met my first Phil when I was about 6 years old. He was my elder brother's friend. Even from that age, I could tell that he was cool – he had a great bike. Was a great athlete. Lived across the road with a cool looking family. Never shouting amongst his friends, and my big brother, who I idolised, was nothing spectacular to observe when in the company of Phil.

The first millionaire I ever met, was named Phil.

And the observations continued from there - entrepreneurs, musicians, personalities – when named Phil, they are always either wildly successful or simply outside of the box and trendsetting others in some shape or form.

Second to Phil, comes Chris! Always in the centre of the action and commanding, not demanding, respect from all & sundry. Different to Phils, Chris is often ridiculously creative, but not in such a self-indulgent manner that he's an obstacle to himself. Quite the opposite, in that he will simply affect people in a way that will have them wanting to get into whatever it is he's doing. So on that note... certain encounters of the Chris kind are to be taken at one's own risk.

This aptly leads us to the dark side of names... JASON (and this has zero to do with the popular movie franchise, Friday 13th). I'm a great devourer of true crime stories, and again, to NOT notice a pattern, would make you a positive ostrich. The amount of case studies, where the perp or suspect is named, Jason, is extraordinary. And again, since a young age, I have encountered folk who support what I'm writing here. 

Second to Jason in misdealings is Dante!

To some extent, I think Dante's on average are more nefarious, but there are simply fewer of them, so by default, must come second to Jason.

And this brings us to perhaps the greatest 'c' topic; assumptions of race by name type. This doesn't really apply to the subject matter of these musings, as different cultures naturally spawn different names. However, all of the names above are born of Christianity, so what if a name comes from such a society, but is not Christian sounding? Can we assume any potential character traits from those with such names?

A very modern example of this is certain Afro-American names. This subset is typically from inner-city areas, whereas the more Christian sounding named folk are from the suburbs and townships. A lot of assumptions are made of 'Ebonic' sounding names – could a brain surgeon like Tim Scott ever be mimicked by a gentleman named Trevonne Lewis? Or could a lady named Lequisha Brown, rise to the position of First Lady, like Michelle Obama?

Afro-American sounding names are indeed the subject of many memes, which are largely scorned upon by the noisy social media brigade amidst accusations of perpetuating stereotypes. But which came first the Trebronne, or the trial?

Methinks we need to stop here, as not even this Afro Caribbean Brit is prepared to open such a can of 'c'. Despite the fact my Christian name is Jerome... and you can't get more stereotypical than that!