Try describing someone you know without using their name. Well, the one from the third floor. The tall one. No, not that tall one, the other one. The one with the dog. Three sentences, and you're still not sure you've been understood. Now say their name. One word, and it's all clear.

We'll explore the origins of names: what purpose they serve, what people got by with before them, and why a name was once a dangerous thing hidden from strangers. Plus, we'll discuss why names change throughout life, why they can be taken away as punishment, and why your own name means absolutely nothing today.

The first recorded names in human history were in accounting.