--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How funny your name would be if you could…" description: "\"How funny your name would be if you could follow it back to where the first person thought of saying it, naming himself that, or maybe some other perso..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fa/john-ashbery-3600_first-person_how-funny-your-name-would-be-if-you-coul_2820952.png" --- # How funny your name would be if you could follow it back… ![“How funny your name would be if you could follow it back to where the first person thought of saying it, naming himself that, or maybe some other persons thought of it and named that person. It would be like following a river to its source, which would be impossible. Rivers have no source.” quote by John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fa/john-ashbery-3600_first-person_how-funny-your-name-would-be-if-you-coul_2820952.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fa/john-ashbery-3600_first-person_how-funny-your-name-would-be-if-you-coul_2820952.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fa/john-ashbery-3600_first-person_how-funny-your-name-would-be-if-you-coul_2820952.png) > “How funny your name would be if you could follow it back to where the first person thought of saying it, naming himself that, or maybe some other persons thought of it and named that person. It would be like following a river to its source, which would be impossible. Rivers have no source.” [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Names are arbitrary labels that trace back to unknown origins, like a river without a source. **In simple terms:** Names have no clear beginning. Key Takeaway Accept the mystery behind labels. Themes identity language origin Mood curious introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - family naming traditions - brand naming - personal identity formation Key Concepts naming etymology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What does your name mean to you? - Can you live beyond a label? A Different Perspective Names can constrain perception and self‑concept. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [First person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-person/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Following](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/following/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Impossible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impossible/) [Names](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/names/) [Naming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/naming/) [Naming Maybe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/naming-maybe-2714310/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rivers/) [Saying Naming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saying-naming-3589740/) [Source](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/source/) [Thought Named](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-named-273413/) [Thought Saying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-saying-739801/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) ## Related quotes > [“How funny your name would be if you could follow it back to where the first person thought of saying it, naming himself that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/how-funny-your-name-would-be-if-you-could-follow-it-back-to-where-the/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [Menshn is a play on the word mention, and in the U.S. that's how it'll be perceived. 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Naming seems to be a \_strange\_ connection…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/this-is-connected-with-the-conception-of-naming-as-a-process-that-is/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [There are many lessons to learn. Naming just one is next to impossible. However, learning to love and be loved is a good starting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faith-hill/there-are-many-lessons-to-learn-naming-just-one-is-next-to-impossible/) [Faith Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faith-hill/) > [“You know, I should start thinking on names. I have to be over two months gone. A name is important. Especially for this baby.”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-anderson/you-know-i-should-start-thinking-on-names-i-have-to-be-over-two/) [Catherine Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-anderson/) > [“Language itself is a major resource in the naming of what cannot be named”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-simpson/language-itself-is-a-major-resource-in-the-naming-of-what-cannot-be/) [David Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-simpson/) ## More by John Ashbery > [“It was always November there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/it-was-always-november-there/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [“Yes, they are alive and can have those colors, But I, in my soul, am alive too. 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I feel they're going on all the time in my head and I occasionally snip off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/i-don-t-look-on-poetry-as-closed-works-i-feel-they-re-going-on-all/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [Somewhere someone is traveling furiously toward you, At incredible speed, traveling day and night, Through blizzards and desert heat, across torrents, through narrow passes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/somewhere-someone-is-traveling-furiously-toward-you-at-incredible-2/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [The promise of learning is a delusion… Tomorrow would alter the sense of what had already been learned, that the learning process is extended…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/the-promise-of-learning-is-a-delusion-tomorrow-would-alter-the-sense/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) [Explore all 126 John Ashbery quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) ## More First person quotes > [I'm all about evolution. 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Harriet Harman made the comparison once at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuka-umunna/i-think-the-first-person-to-call-me-britain-s-obama-was-martin-bright/) [Chuka Umunna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuka-umunna/) > [“It is said to be the age of the first person singular”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/it-is-said-to-be-the-age-of-the-first-person-singular/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“A part of a healthy conscience is being able to confront consciencelessness. 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