I worry that some future New Years Day, one of us will decide to keep their name. That despite throughout their whole life, where a new year meant a New Name, someone will want to remain who they were. To begin with, announcing new names to friends and family has always been my favorite part of the clock-striking-twelve festivities. You scream your New Name (out loud, out and loud) right as the ball drops. You let the mix of unfamiliar syllables shape your tongue (syllables only previously practiced silently, in front of a mirror, or tried on in daydreams). And the release of these syllables, blending with the simultaneous primal screams of self-reclamation by your loved ones, is cathartic (to say the least), midnight and midnight again. At this point, having been around for at least three generations, Renaming is an ingrained part of society. Ever since the country decided to make all forms of identification fluid, it's been de facto law that, once January 1st arrives, you'll be using a different name than the previous twelve months. True, most people don't change their genders so often, but we've discovered that no matter what pew or alley you kneel in, the color of your toenail polish, or how your breath smells in the morning, donning a new name alongside some half-hearted resolutions is the most beautiful way to re-imagine selfhood anew. Yes, of course, there were the usual complaints and stragglers to the fad. They asked questions like: 'How do we remember all these names?' 'Is it really necessary to reshape such an integral part of how we identify?'…etc. Some argued that it just wasn't practical; what about emails? Passports? Will they have to change too? Luckily, technology has advanced enough in recent years to make verifying identities by fingerprint or retinal scans accessible to practically everyone. The desire to Rename is even bipartisan! Conservatives (who originally touted that the trend was liberal hoo-ha) do tend to stick to biblical name rotations, but at least they've embraced having fun as much as they know how. Revolutionary thinkers can go for more unorthodox names, sometimes even throwing a few numbers in. Renaming seemingly knows no class boundaries (and even created a few more jobs in tech to process all the new non-binary binaries). Names were often given sloppily, and fixed identities into cultural and psychological blueprints. There was shame associated in relinquishing a ‘given' name. These days, asking about someone's current (and past) names can teach you so much about how they have chosen to move through the world. In changing names, we can shift focus to another piece of who we are, intentionally becoming more of this piece, at least for a year. Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Hyde were the same person, but had two names to distinguish their different selves. And yes, all this Renaming does sow confusion, but this is how things ought to be. The natural state of the world is confusion, misattribution, unruliness, disarray. The first thing we do when we truly value some thing (be it a pet, car, or instrument) is name it. Does a cat care what it's named? Does a baby? No, exactly - only the namer cares. And thus Renaming yourself is an intimate act: one chooses what sounds we make each time we introduce ourselves (One day, I might just Rename myself Prrrrrrr - pronounced like a cat purring, or the roll of an unvoiced Spanish ‘r'). Asking someone's name when meeting is a formality; repeating your own name over and over is a ritual. Value yourself. Infuse yourself with agency and love, in the form of a name you have chosen. Honestly, Renaming has solved so many problems, and that's not just my bias talking. People now have a valid excuse for when they don't remember an acquaintance's name; you don't get stuck dating only Katharines; someone finally admitted that the LA Review of Books spelled ‘LARB' and changed it for all the vegan readers; it's ok not to know the name of the person you're singing happy birthday to; if you could never find personalized key chains before, the choice is now in your hands; you can choose matching names with a blossoming new friend or partner (a great option compared to getting matching tattoos)…I could go on for hours. Sold yet? Let's go back to my original fear – that one day, laziness will win out, and some poor soul named ‘John' in 2173 will want to remain ‘John' in 2174 (let's be honest, no ‘Baleen is ever going to want to stay ‘Baleen'). Maybe they'll be getting older, less malleable. Maybe they'll have found a name that seems to suit them for longer than just one unit of the Gregorian calendar. But when this happens…all the fear of change and difference that exists in humankind will rear its ugly head. We'll revert back to a close-minded society that allows no room for freedom of expression. We'll be stuck in the past, not growing, learning, or evolving towards our greatest potential. We'll be static. Boring. Do you want to be boring?