Comments on: Barack Hussein Obama Junior: The Best Personal Brand Name Ever?

By: The Most Unexploited Tool in Personal Branding: Your Name | Personal Branding Blog - Dan Schawbel

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 12:17:28 +0000

[...] most people, that group of words is simply their birth name. If your birth name is Barack Hussein Obama Jr. that might be good enough, but there are some cases where an improvement is desperately [...]

By: Torley

Torley — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:05:02 +0000

I didn’t have anything to add here but I enjoyed reading this, and the threaded comments make it easier to follow the thoughtful discussion.

Bug: in this very field, it says “Your Message” which I have to manually select and delete unlike the Name/Email/URL. When we click in here, “Your Message” should disappear.

Have a delightfully personally branded day. ^_^

By: Jacob Share

Jacob Share — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 10:33:13 +0000

Thanks for sharing your naming thought process, Maria.

As someone who has lived and worked in 4 countries spanning 3 continents, I also find cultural differences fascinating. I’ll touch upon them again in next week’s article.

By: Jacob Share

Jacob Share — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 10:27:22 +0000

It’s a good point Francis, but in this case you need to consider the context. Of course Luo tribesmen love that Obama has a name in their language but other Africans know that it’s an African name too, something unusual in the US.

Comparing between Europe and Africa is always complex. As a result of the abuse they’ve taken for so long, many Africans still feel proud out of seeing something of theirs do well. And why shouldn’t they?

By: Jacob Share

Jacob Share — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 10:18:54 +0000

Glad you liked it, Wendy.

Actually, my parents only chose my first name which means “will follow” or “will hold fast”. The Share name in our case was a result of Island-type anglicization, except that it happened in Canada.

By: Jacob Share

Jacob Share — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 10:14:07 +0000

Thanks for the link Chandlee.

It’s true that Obama’s name was a challenge that needed to be overcome during the campaign (I hinted at that with the line about “Muslim talk”) and that’s done! Outward-facing, this is one powerful name.

And you’re right, of course- Obama was successful in building his brand because he was able to reinforce it so well.

But now the real work begins, so we’ll get to see if it was just marketing or true blue authenticity.

By: Meg Guiseppi

Meg Guiseppi — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 13:49:11 +0000

This is a wonderfully thought-provoking piece, Jacob.

I’m not sure what impact my own personal brand name has but, with the combination of an English first name and Italian last name, at least it’s unusual. And hopefully memorable.

By: Maria Duron

Maria Duron — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 06:29:29 +0000

I appreciate your insight, too, Francis. Both you and Jacob express interesting thoughts and ideas about names. I’m looking forward to next week’s post as he explores this subject further. As a U.S. born Filipina, I have a very traditional Filipino name that doesn’t even fit on my social security card. To make things easier, I “Americanize” my name by using my first name “Maria Elena” and my husband’s last name “Duron”. (even with all that many believe that “Elena” is my middle name – which it is not). In fact, in the Philippines “Maria” is such a common name that it is often abbreviated as “Ma.” so I would write my name as Ma.Elena Duron. Cultural difference are fascinating and something I enjoy exploring in articles that I write along with exploring further culture in the hyperconnected world. Thanks for your thoughtful comments and Jacob’s thought provoking post.

By: Chandlee Bryan

Chandlee Bryan — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 17:09:34 +0000

Your MessageYes, and thanks for pointing out the “missing link”:

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2008/11/17/081117taco_talk_hertzberg

By: Dan Schawbel

Dan Schawbel — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 14:22:25 +0000

@Francis – a lot of people from India have the last name “Patel,” which is recognized and respected by that group. Look at Neil Patel for example.