An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a name. An anagrammatist creates anagrams that reveal something about a person. Anagrams should be direct, understandable, and use all the letters of the original name. Anagrams have a long history and were believed to reveal destiny or hide information. Lewis Carroll created famous anagrams, and now computer programs can generate anagrams quickly.
You can anagram your name by rearranging all the letters to form a word or phrase. For example, the letters in the name Mary can be rearranged to form the word “army.” An anagrammatist is a person who specializes in creating anagrams. An expert anagrammatic scribe will create an anagram that is cognate with your name or one that also reveals something about you, such as your job or personality. A clever cognate anagram of pop musician and dancer Madonna Louise Ciccone’s name would be “a fantastic dance musician.”
Most anagrammatists use pencil and paper or letter cards to anagram your name. A perfect anagram of your name will use every letter, even if it occurs more than once. If your name contains two of the letters o, the resulting anagram should also include the same number. An anagram that doesn’t use all the letters of the original name is considered imperfect.
When trying to anagram your name, there are several things to keep in mind. The anagram should make a direct reference or comment about you or its topic. An anagram that is too obscure may not be understandable. Grammatical correctness and humor can also enhance an attempt to anagram your name. Punctuation such as exclamation marks and interjections are generally avoided.
The creation of anagrams has a long history in many languages. The first evidence of anagrams can be found in the work of Lycophron, a Greek poet who lived in Alexandria in the 3rd century BC. He created anagrams of the names of Ptolemy and Queen Arsinoe. Ptolemaios became apo melitos, or “made of honey,” a reference to the gentle nature of the king.
Later, in the 6th century BC, Pythagoras is believed to have examined anagrams for hidden meanings. The belief that anagrams could reveal a person’s destiny or future was apparently also shared by Plato and Alexander the Great. The night before the city of Tire fell to Alexander, the conqueror is said to have dreamed of a satyr. An anagram of satyros, the Greek word for satyr, is sa tyros, or “Tyre is yours.”
Belief in the predictive power of anagrams persisted throughout the Middle Ages and into the late 17th and 18th centuries. Anagrams could also be used to obscure a person’s identity or to hide or protect information. Roger Bacon, for example, identified one of the ingredients in gunpowder only in anagram form. In the realm of fiction, author Dan Brown has used anagrams to keep readers in awe of his novel The Da Vinci Code. He uses the phrase “O, draconian devil” as an anagram of Leonardo da Vinci’s name.
Making anagrams of famous people’s names became fashionable in the 19th century. Lewis Carroll created some famous examples, including “flit on, cheering angel,” an anagram of Florence Nightingale. He also created the anagram “wild agitator means good” from the letters in William Ewart Gladstone’s name.
It is now possible to anagram your name using a computer program. These programs can be purchased or downloaded for free online. These programs can generate a list of many anagrams very quickly, but many will be meaningless. Using software to create an anagram likely removes the elements of human ingenuity and creativity from this language game, but finding an anagram that relates to the original name can still be satisfying.
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