What is a Name?

“When you know your name, you should hang on to it, for unless it is noted down and remembered, it will die when you do” (Morrison 329). 

Throughout our discussion of this book, I’ve been really fascinated by names and their origin. By the end of the book, Milkman himself has a realization about the meaning of names, how easily they can be chosen and how much they hold within them. There are many characters in this book, whose distinct name holds a piece of their history. In Morrison’s world, names are alive, they’re born of circumstance and must be taken up and cultivated to be remembered. 

One important name in this story belongs not to a character, but to the setting of the novel. Not Doctor’s Street is a name that acts as a link to history. The story goes that the residents formally dubbed the street "Doctor’s Street" in honor of Dr. Foster. It was later rebranded as Not Doctor’s Street after backlash from white communities. Both iterations of the name say something about the living force behind the name. The street was named after someone who achieved something valuable in the eyes of the residents, and so it became a part of the street’s legacy. The name attaches the will of the people to the physical location of the street itself, especially because the residents actively chose to reject the quiet name of "Main Street". The change in this name over time also points to the dynamic and changing history. 

In contrast, our protagonist can’t seem to change his names, both are set and continue to define him throughout his life. Both of Milkman’s names have an important meaning. His given name, "Macon III", speaks to how he’s defined by his father, much to his dismay throughout the story. Macon wants to strike out on his own, but oftentimes he fails to stand apart from his father in many of his actions and beliefs. “Macon Dead” contains the history of his father and his father before that. As any birth name does, "Macon" reminds him that he is a product of his parents. If Macon’s birth name shapes his tensions with his father, the nickname Milkman highlights his complicated relationship with his mother. Most people call him Milkman and the name holds a piece of Milkman’s childhood. The name connects Milkman, somewhat unwillingly, to his past. The oddity of the name points to equally distinct circumstances, while also making the underlying family history hard to forget.

Later on, as Milkman travels from Michigan to Pennsylvania to Virginia to uncover more of his family history, names once again become important. In Pennsylvania, he finds that the name Macon Dead means something to Reverend Cooper and his friends. Milkman's grandfather's name holds the tall tales of this first Macon's life, brimming with pride and hope for black men. As Milkman continues his quest for the truth, this name peels away to reveal the true names of his ancestors: Jake, Sing, Ryna, and Solomon. In this book, names derive from strange happenstance, mythic people, and generational inheritance. Names say something powerful about the people and places they describe. Throughout The Song of Solomon, Morrison uses distinct names, with all the meanings that come with them, to fill this strange little pocket of the world.