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This devotional address entitled A Good Name, A Priceless Possession, was given on September 14th of 2004 by Sharon G. Samuelson, wife of BYU President Cecil O. Samuelson.

It's a privilege to stand before you this morning as we began a new school year,

and also to inform you that we now have five grandchildren, and they're hard to come by, so we'll claim every one we get.

My husband and I are now in our second year here at Brigham Young University, and our lives have been

enriched in so many different

ways during our time here.

We also look forward to the days and months ahead in your midst because we love and admire

you.

In William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Juliet speaks to herself and says, what's

in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name

would smell as sweet. By definition, your name is a word by which you are known. As I was growing up,

I often wish that I would have another surname than the one I had. I still wanted to be me. I still wanted the same

family I had, but I really would have rather been known by a last name which others could

pronounce and spell correctly. It was a French name that had its origin in the eastern

Mediterranean area, and from there my ancestors immigrated to the New Chattel area of Switzerland.

Upon hearing or seeing my surname for the first time, no one knew how to say it.

Those few who did attempt to pronounce it most often were very wrong and thus embarrassed,

to say nothing of how I felt.

It was spelled G-I-A-U-E, and we pronounced it Juke.

When I was young and would list the attributes that I wanted in a future husband, tacked on to the usual ones would be

he must have a last name which is easy to spell and pronounce.

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