A name is a word or term used for identification.

A name is arbitrary. Whether my parents called me Brandon or Brendan or Brayden or Romeo, I likely would be the same man I am today. But what if they named me Abdul?

Ah, then things change because of the meaning we attach to the word.

Abdul is symbolic of something — a darker skin tone, a certain religion, another geographic region.

Visual symbols themselves are also arbitrary, until they are not. If the Nazis used the “peace” symbol, then today that would be the mark of evil, according to many people.

There is a lot of talk and controversy in the US these days about names and symbols and the need to change them. (It shouldn’t be taken for granted that the call for these changes are representative of all or even most of the country. Rather, it is a vocal minority that determines what is socially acceptable. Nonetheless, the conversation is taking place — so I add to it.)

Let’s start with a couple of recent examples:

On August 30, the Federal Government ordered that North America’s tallest mountain, Mt. McKinley’s, name be changed to Denali. Denali is the term used by the Native Americans in Alaska. So what’s the big deal? Well, besides the cost to change all the place names on maps and souvenirs, and besides any claims that the process by which it was changed skirted the rules, to most in America, tradition may be the biggest hurdle to their acceptance, as Mt. McKinley is how they’ve always known the mountain. Meanwhile some Ohioans are sore because the name held meaning , it being after their native hero President William McKinley.

In the Upper Midwest, changing the name of the University of North Dakota’s hockey team, the Fighting Sioux, has been an issue and battle for years. This name had meaning to the Grand Forks hockey fans who’ve been cheering the squad for generations. More significant, many of the local Sioux wanted to keep the name. But another Sioux tribe didn’t, and their desire won out with the added leverage of the NCAA.

Interestingly, the college is trying to find a replacement name, and the plurality of local fans don’t want a nickname at all, opting for “UND/North Dakota.” Perhaps this indicates the lack of importance in a name. Or maybe it’s indicative of how quickly people get used to a new name, as UND/North Dakota has been the mascot placeholder for the last few years.

In the end, of course, renaming the mountain or the hockey team isn’t that big of a deal. Humans have renamed cities and countries. Is it Myanmar or Burma? The Southeast Asian nation still goes by both names depending on who you ask. To the Burmese government, it’s Myanmar; to the ethnic Karenni minority from there, it’s Burma. To outsiders like myself, either word works because either sound refers to that chunk of land. Without symbolic meaning, the name is arbitrary.