What's in a name?

What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet

~ Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet


I've been toying with the idea of taking on a middle name when I get married. 'Laura Brown' is just plain boring and 'Laura Foster' only slightly more exciting (in terms of a name that is; it's real meaning to me is much more special and thrilling than I can express).

I've been thinking of possibilities...

Laura Ella Foster? I like Ella because it was an adopted name made up with a friend when on a church weekend away. We had listened to a talk about how Daniel and his friends all had God's name in their names, and when the Babylonians changed their names it was like their identity being spoiled. We wanted God to be fully part of us and made each other nicknames containing 'El' and 'Yah' - two of the Hebrew (?) names for God. According to www.thinkbabynames.com 'It is of Old German origin, and its meaning is "other, foreign"', which seems almost appropriate to the story of Daniel! http://www.babynamesworld.com/meaning_of_Ella.html says it's of Greek origin meaning torch or bright light, which would be nice to live up to. It's also the name of one of my favourite singers, Ella Fitzgerald. Having been my forum profile name for years it seems more part of me than any other name picked out of a names dictionary.

Ben favours Jane. Jane sounds very English and reminds me of Jane in Pride and Prejudice - far too angelic a character to ever live up to!

I'm not even sure how this would work legally - I think it's okay to do judging by clients' birth and marriage certificates I see at work, but I might need to check before setting my heart on a new name! Part of me thinks it would be a bit weird to give myself a name - naming seems to be a parent's job, not mine.