Modern people with Roman names

[Jona Lendering]

I remember a woman who called her daughter Medea, after the hysterical child-murdering heroine. The mother had decided that Medea was in fact a misunderstood symbol of ancient feminism. That may or may not be true, but the daughter will forever have to express her mother's political convictions. Every time she introduces herself, she will have to explain "my mother is a feminist and in her view, Euripides' horror story has to be read as symbolic opposition against male repression".

There's nothing wrong with feminism, on the contrary, but no parent has the right to force his or her child to continue a particular political struggle. Poor girl. One of the articles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child guarantees that children have a right to have a name, but obviously, names can be used as instruments of repression too.