I haven't found it online yet, but since NAMING is coming up AGAIN, I figgured I'd write about what I remembered.
In some ancient (and not so ancient) Cultures the Name is a very important thing. People believed that knowing a persons 'True Name' gave them power over that person, so your 'True Name' was one only known to you, your signifigant other, and your true 'life and death' friends. You had your Birthname, which was known and used only by your family while you were a child. As a child, you had that name and a 'Stranger' or Use name that you gave to people outside of your immediate family. When the child became a man or woman in the eyes of their culture, their name changed to the Adult name, which was also only Family, etc. As they became an adult, their 'Use' name changed from the childhood version to what they would use with associates and strangers for the rest of their life. (IE, Miller, Mason, Smith, Brewer, Topper, Miner, etc.) After doing an initiation ceremony or long prayer session, the person either discovered their 'True Name', or was given it by the Shaman, Priest or Elders of their Tribe or community. As they aged, their 'True Name' would occasionally change, when they had Major events occur in their lives, either from what they did or because of something that happened to them.
In the past, permanent names were not rare. Nowadays, the persons birth name is a permanent name for all legal functions and very few people have True Names. On Social Networking sites, people have gotten back to 'Use' names to help describe them, but continue to hide their true identies.
