IT really interests my mind to know why my name “Ebony” which is also a contextual word bothers some people. I am writing this letter today to finally explain what this word is and what it exactly means for clarity since majority of  people are having the wrong conception about it but very few intelligent people I met know exactly and why my father chose to name me so. Ebony is actually a high quality type of wood that comes only from a sacred tree found in Sri Lanka and South India according to the double day dictionary. I was given this name because I know I am a special one out of a million who was born not to be selfish but to be productive towards the country. I always try my best to address issues and put people and situations forward than my self because I feel I am existing for a major purpose that everyone is waiting for me to make this great change. I agree that my name also has another contextual meaning that in Greek, not English Language, definition number two that it means the colour “black.” now we are getting to the part that also interests me. Why is it that people laugh or are curious to know, why my name is Ebony when they are the ones who are wrong about the exact meaning and are the fools not myself nor my father? Don’t they know that other words in the dictionary have more than one meaning that go along with it. Don’t they know that people are also named after colours of the rainbow like the rock singer “pink” and girls are named “violet” which means a deep purple and “amber” which is a shade of yellow and some other people titles even have the name of colours such as Mr. Brown, White, Blue, and even Hamilton Green springs to mind but the name of persons shouldn’t bother us, it is if they are a good person in society, doing things to help others and the surroundings.
I always believe that when people are given unique and unusual names they turn out in real life to be very interesting people in society that shine out in the crowd such as Beyonce’ Knowles, Oprah Winfrey, Ashwariya Rai-Bachan, Preity Zinta, Mariah Carey, and many others who have strange names and stand out in society.
It is puzzling to know why people shoot the question to me that, “how come your name is Ebony?” I would respond and tell them the real reason why my father named me so and if they want the name they can take it and name their future child with it if they want because when someone has a name, they don’t really own it. If you like someone’s name you have the freedom of right to adopt it and use it for another purpose but copying someone’s original work, ideas and lets say a title of a book is called plagiarism and is identified as a crime at the University of Guyana and other universities and public places around the world that shouldn’t be practiced but eliminated. It still boggles my mind and I sit and wonder why a name would bother some people when I noticed nowadays a lot of people are giving their children names that are not of their culture and are running away from them. Mr. Odinga Lumumba who is an adviser to our president and the head for the Miss Guyana Universe Pageant is a true African carrying on his ancestry by adopting such a rich name that is derived from his heritage.
I got my name Ebony Narpatty from my roots. Ebony being a sacred type of tree found in India, and the word “Narpatty” meaning in Hindi, “the husband of the earth,” giving me a real unique Indian cultured name that was passed down to me from ancestry of Indian civilisation.
We see words but we don’t know the actual meaning that is why it is relevant to go through your dictionary if you could find it, or do some research on it or even ask the person who currently has the name if it means something in a particular language, tribe or thing etc. I know my parents decided to give me a powerful name that stands out like no other and it suits me. Look at people in society, they are given names that actually match the kind of personality they have. A few persons told me this already and it is true. Someone name Jasodra or Gertrude usually looks or act like an old woman that I came across unlike others name Bruce like Bruce Willis are fierce. When you give children calm names and bible names, it is observed that they come out to be this well mannered individual like Emma, Sarah, Abigail, Elizabeth, Joel, Ezra, Daniel, Jacob, etc. People who have read widely in this life, that is they read to know more and become more intelligent about things around them, who exist very few, already knew the meaning of my name and are proud of it and comment, “what a beautiful name for a beautiful young woman.” people have to learn to read more widely to broaden their perspectives about life and what it is made up of.
I do hope after writing this article someone else is not going to ask me about my name again because I would just refer them to the dictionary or this article I have written. It is nice to have an unusual name but it gets annoying to keep on meeting people who have no knowledge about it. I would like to conclude in this letter that “Ebony” does not mean that you are “black” or that you come from African ancestry but rather one of the Indians. I am aware of the “Ebony” magazine that came out a few years later, after I was born and this magazine being an international icon and it should be ashamed of carrying on the wrong conception about it, that ebony here is referring to “black women” whereas its suppose to refer to the colour “black” and not African ancestry. This has fooled many to believe that when your name is Ebony you are supposed to be an African woman. Whatever I am stating here is the truth and should not be considered racial against any race. As Bob Marley once said, the truth is an offence, but not a sin.”