Have you ever felt that you could identify with a given name other than your own?

[Erica]

So, let me be frank in stating that “Erica” is not my real name (no pun intended). But it is a name that I’ve always tended to gravitate towards. For some reason I always subconsciously associated “Erich” with my own name, and would use the name Erica as an alias or for a fictitious character based on myself. I suspect it could be rooted in a previous existence.

I’m not asking anyone here to disclose information on themselves they don’t want to give. But I am curious, have there ever been certain names which somehow feel familiar to you or have just always seemed like “yours”, before ever finding any potential PLs with any such names? And if so, have you ever found your past identity to bear that name?

 

[Nora_004]

Now I think about it,I’ve always gravitated towards the name Julia and now iam wondering if I could’ve been a Julia in one of my past lives…When I think of the name Julia I always think of red hair and I have a bit of a obsession with having red hair so maybe I now know two things abt one of my possible pls lol

 

[Totoro]

I like several girl's names, but I doubt they were mine as most of my past lives were in Asia.

The names I do know, I don't really identify with. I take them for granted like my name now.

 

[HBC]

I've always felt jealous -- or something like jealous -- of people named Reuben. I've been teased for it, as it's a sandwich But I've even felt that odd jealously over the sandwiches! My sister-in-law's cat, a street, a beer brand, you name it -- anything with that name. I feel like it's MINE, and it's unfair that sandwiches get it and not me

I do feel Reuben (or possibly Reuven) was my name in my last life. The closest match I've found to my memories in official documents was a Reuben -- and if that wasn't me, then I'm jealous of some random dead guy for having MY name, too How dare he?

I relate to no other names like that, aside from maybe some that I've used in my writing -- but that could be explained by the affection I feel for my characters. What stands out the most, though, is my utter distaste and disinterest in my CURRENT name. I've never felt like it was mine at all! I have serious issues with my parents (AKA those named me), so that's part of it, but it's deeper and weirder than mere animosity. I have to REMIND myself of my name, and it takes conscious effort to respond to it sometimes. I've related more to random nicknames I've had!

I've had people try "muscle testing" on me a couple times now -- it a trick that healers and psychics like to employ. They always start by asking something that's a "fact" that you "know with certainty" -- namely, your name. I tell them every time that I don't feel my name is really my own, but they shrug it off. Needless to say, the muscle testing fails, and they seem baffled. I wish they weren't trained to start with names like that -- use my age, use my eye color, even use my gender, which I'm ambivalent about but still trust more than my NAME! It's crossed my mind to use the name Reuben next time this comes up, but it's always too late. This muscle testing thing always shows up after you've already shared your name, and it's just too awkward to change your identity by surprise

If anyone ever gets "muscle tested" with a name they suspect is from a past life, let me know how it goes!

 

[fireflydancing]

I really have no idea about names in former lives. To be honest, I've never bothered about names. I like my current name, Elizabeth and the endless variations to this name (in other languages as well). Don't think that I give away my identity, because nobody ever calls me by this name. In daily life people call me by a completely different name, something my parents decided after I was born. (Official name vs non-official name). And as my name was not my official name, I even changed the spelling myself somewhere in my teens. This is common in my country and I guess this situation was even more complicated in the past. All kind of nicknames, non-official names, variations, abbreviations and so forth. And I guess this happens in more cultures. So, even if you suddenly would 'know' how you were called in a former life, this doesn't guarantee at all that you will find yourself in some kind of official register.
By the way, I also listen to my Arabic name, that I 'earned' after giving birth to my oldest son. And sometimes people only know my youngest and use his name to address to me. For people who don't know, if your first born is called Said, then they will call you Um Said (mother of Said) instead of your girlsname. And non-Arabic Muslims just use 'mama + name' (like Mama Said) (not his real name, just an example) when they call me.
And to make it even more complicated, several people call me by another (Arabic) name even though they know it's not my real name. I don't care. I think this attitude towards names (I don't care how you call me, as long as it's about me) doesn't help me focus on names in former lives.

 

[HBC]

I really have no idea about names in former lives. To be honest, I've never bothered about names. I like my current name, Elizabeth and the endless variations to this name (in other languages as well). Don't think that I give away my identity, because nobody ever calls me by this name. In daily life people call me by a completely different name, something my parents decided after I was born. (Official name vs non-official name). And as my name was not my official name, I even changed the spelling myself somewhere in my teens. This is common in my country and I guess this situation was even more complicated in the past. All kind of nicknames, non-official names, variations, abbreviations and so forth. And I guess this happens in more cultures. So, even if you suddenly would 'know' how you were called in a former life, this doesn't guarantee at all that you will find yourself in some kind of official register.
By the way, I also listen to my Arabic name, that I 'earned' after giving birth to my oldest son. And sometimes people only know my youngest and use his name to address to me. For people who don't know, if your first born is called Said, then they will call you Um Said (mother of Said) instead of your girlsname. And non-Arabic Muslims just use 'mama + name' (like Mama Said) (not his real name, just an example) when they call me.
And to make it even more complicated, several people call me by another (Arabic) name even though they know it's not my real name. I don't care. I think this attitude towards names (I don't care how you call me, as long as it's about me) doesn't help me focus on names in former lives.

This had me look up Umm Kulthum to see if she had a kid named Kulthum I don't think she did It's funny the things you don't think about until you realize you don't think about them! I've heard Arabic women referred to as "Umm" This or That and not once did I fully grasp why -- even though I KNEW that "Umm" means mother! This is weirdly similar to how remembering a past life feels for me -- I have all the memories and understanding already, all the information is there -- I've just never actually thought about it

At any rate, I love this progression/flexibility with names! This is how I feel names should be. They shouldn't be something heavy that you are shackled by, they should be light and changeable and reflect the different phases of your life somehow. My name might have suited me when I was 2 years old, but now I'm 40 I sometimes feel like I have a baby's name Whether or not my name was Reuben in my last life, I know I messed around with it a bit, changing the spelling, trying to fit in or stand out, depending on various factors -- and loved ones called me almost exclusively by nicknames.

 

[fireflydancing]

This had me look up Umm Kulthum to see if she had a kid named Kulthum

She didn't. People had given her that name.

 

[Emma66]

Yes, I have always been attracted to a name, a classmate, a singer, an actor. Last year I found out it was my last past life name. But curiously, I also found that several of my current life friends had names (and not common names) of people from my past lives. I am not saying that they were reincarnated in my current life but maybe their names reminded me of my PL relatives and I appreciate to be friend with them.

 

[Erica]

If anyone ever gets "muscle tested" with a name they suspect is from a past life, let me know how it goes!

That’s an interesting idea really. I wonder just what sort of results such a test might yield in that case...

 

[Nora_004]

I've always felt jealous -- or something like jealous -- of people named Reuben. I've been teased for it, as it's a sandwich But I've even felt that odd jealously over the sandwiches! My sister-in-law's cat, a street, a beer brand, you name it -- anything with that name. I feel like it's MINE, and it's unfair that sandwiches get it and not me

I do feel Reuben (or possibly Reuven) was my name in my last life. The closest match I've found to my memories in official documents was a Reuben -- and if that wasn't me, then I'm jealous of some random dead guy for having MY name, too How dare he?

I relate to no other names like that, aside from maybe some that I've used in my writing -- but that could be explained by the affection I feel for my characters. What stands out the most, though, is my utter distaste and disinterest in my CURRENT name. I've never felt like it was mine at all! I have serious issues with my parents (AKA those named me), so that's part of it, but it's deeper and weirder than mere animosity. I have to REMIND myself of my name, and it takes conscious effort to respond to it sometimes. I've related more to random nicknames I've had!

I've had people try "muscle testing" on me a couple times now -- it a trick that healers and psychics like to employ. They always start by asking something that's a "fact" that you "know with certainty" -- namely, your name. I tell them every time that I don't feel my name is really my own, but they shrug it off. Needless to say, the muscle testing fails, and they seem baffled. I wish they weren't trained to start with names like that -- use my age, use my eye color, even use my gender, which I'm ambivalent about but still trust more than my NAME! It's crossed my mind to use the name Reuben next time this comes up, but it's always too late. This muscle testing thing always shows up after you've already shared your name, and it's just too awkward to change your identity by surprise

If anyone ever gets "muscle tested" with a name they suspect is from a past life, let me know how it goes!

Wait hold on muscle tested?never heard of it before

 

[HBC]

Wait hold on muscle tested?never heard of it before

It's a diagnostic technique used by physical & mental health practitioners. It's used in several different ways, but the ways I've encountered it always resembles some kind of lie detector test. For some people -- perhaps most -- the "strength" of a muscle can indicate whether or not a statement is true to a person or not, and it can help a person figure out their authentic truth. But I know it's also been used to help people figure out physical needs, nutritional deficiencies, etc. I'm unsure if it would work for me or not, because every time the gateway question -- the "control" if you will -- is "Is your name X?" Like THAT would bring up an unruffled response in me Because I "fail" the first question, I kinda screw up the whole test

Here's an article about it: https://www.truthorganicspa.com/post/muscle-testing It's a pretty woo-woo article, honestly, but all of the people I've known who do muscle testing ARE pretty woo-woo There are more "professional" types who do it too, or so I've been told, for various reasons. I'm just sharing what I know about it, and that's far from everything.

 

[Marc]

I've always be drawn to the name Stefan - and guess what? A few years ago I discovered it was a name I had in a PL! As I started discovering more names from past lives, I realized that I liked most of them too. They have different origins but seem very familiar, as if they resonate with who I am. I can mention Robert, Hermann, Francesco, Cristovao, Armando, Evangelo.

 

[Bellona324]

Kira(maybe this one is more of my Discord username than a past life thing), Pyotr, Alexey and Alexander(Sasha works too as a nickname).


I don’t respond to another name I’m aware of, but was my pl name. Right now, I respond to usernames more. Not this forum one, I made this when I was 14. I meant names like Kira and Almond.

 

[Elle C.]

I know some of my names in past lives and I have zero connection to them.

I dislike my given name and chose to go by Elle, and did until 13 years ago when my dad asked my husband not to call me that but by my given name.

Only names I have any pull to is in this life. Elizabeth is a name I answer to because I had a HS Sub call me that constantly. Last time I saw him, he had to be in his 90s and I was in my 30s and he goes "Elizabeth!! I remember you!" Yeah, except my name was NOT that. Chelsea is another from playing table top role play games, since that was my character for 20 years and I have friends that still call me that because they forget my name is not Chelsea. I like Beryl, but that has to do with a childhood memory of THIS life (Beryl Berney and the I'd like to teach the world to sing album) and a love of Chemistry.

I have an active distaste for the name of one of my past lives. I detest hearing it. It's a love hate thing internally. I loathe it and at the same time I get pissed off it's a big gamer thing and I hear it far too often and I feel like, you idiots. That's MINE. Then I shudder, lol.

Another is neutral, I don't care for the name, but I don't dislike the name. I must be looking for a reincarnated pet from that one because every animal of the type is always the same name I gave one in a PL. Molly is another, I know it wasn't quite right, but it's what I hear in memories because of an accent, and that life was about as boring as you can have. I can hear the names and not have a reaction to it, but at the same time know it was there someone lurking underneath.