Allan Blumenthal vs. Nathaniel Blumenthal

[Donovan A.]

I am just curious as to the reason for Nathaniel's name change from Blumenthal to Branden. Could anyone explain the reason for the name change? I am also wondering if Allan Blumenthal was related to Nathaniel?

Just wondering,

Donovan

[Barbara Branden]

Donovan, Nathaniel and I decided to change our name for a very simple reason: we didn't like the one we had. So we looked through the New York telephone book for one we both would like. We looked under the Bs -- as Rand pointed out to us later, "Criminals and writers keep their initials when they change their names." Finally, after much conversation, we both were happy to settle on "Branden."

And despite all the discussion about how and why we arrived at our new name, the above was all that was involved.

Yes, Nathaniel and Allan Blumenthal are related; they are first cousins.

Barbara

[Brant Gaede]

Donovan, Nathaniel and I decided to change our name for a very simple reason: we didn't like the one we had. So we looked through the New York telephone book for one we both would like. We looked under the Bs -- as Rand pointed out to us later, "Criminals and writers keep their initials when they change their names." Finally, after much conversation, we both were happy to settle on "Branden."

And despite all the discussion about how and why we arrived at our new name, the above was all that was involved.

Yes, Nathaniel and Allan Blumenthal are related; they are first cousins.

Barbara

A likely story! The actual truth is you got to "Gaede" and made a U-turn afraid it'd get worse! This is a most gross insult, Barbara!

--Brant

[Barbara Branden]

No, Brant. The real truth is that is was "Buttercup" that broke us up and turned us back.

Barbara

[Brant Gaede]

No, Brant. The real truth is that is was "Buttercup" that broke us up and turned us back.

Barbara

Yeah, that'd turn anybody back.

BTW, I've always loved my name. I always thought it deeply rooted. My first name being my Mother's maiden name. I just put her to bed. We traded a little joke and I kissed her good-nite. Ruth Brant Davis, 93, 10 mos yo.

--Brant

[Chris Grieb]

Barbara; More than a few people have noted that Branden is combination of the words "ben" and "rand". That the word "ben" in Hebrew means "son of". As in Nathaniel son of Rand.

Were there more Blumenthal's than Branden's in the New York phone book when you checked.

Edited August 26, 2008 by Chris Grieb

[Barbara Branden]

Chris: "More than a few people have noted that Branden is combination of the words "ben" and "rand". That the word "ben" in Hebrew means "son of".

It surely is clear that Nathaniel did not view Rand as his mother. and that she did not view him as her son. Neither of them would have wanted the "son of Rand" implication of "Branden" had they been aware of it.

Chris: "Were there more Blumenthal than Branden's in the New York phone book when you checked."

If I recall correctly, there were no Brandens -- but several Brandons.

Barbara

[Reidy]

Very resourceful of you to find a name in the phone book that wasn't there.

[Chris Grieb]

Barbara; Maybe you should have picked Buttercup to avoid the confusion.

[Roger Bissell]

Chris: "More than a few people have noted that Branden is combination of the words "ben" and "rand". That the word "ben" in Hebrew means "son of".

It surely is clear that Nathaniel did not view Rand as his mother. and that she did not view him as her son. Neither of them would have wanted the "son of Rand" implication of "Branden" had they been aware of it.

Barbara

Really? Now, I read ~somewhere~ that Rand, perhaps even on more than one occasion, would refer to members of the Collective as her "children." (In "Passion," perhaps? Or maybe in something Mary Ann Sures wrote? Maybe in Joan Kennedy Taylor's memoirs in the oral history dvd?)

Wouldn't this kind of reference, even if informal and light-hearted, reflect a real attitude that might inspire some of those younger ones to adopt a name reflecting that relationship? Just asking.

Personally, I find the statistical likelihood vanishingly small that you two would accidentally, or at RANDom (heh-heh), select a name bearing such a close resemblance to "Rand" -- let alone to "ben Rand." (Though I admit to not being an expert in statistics.)

For that matter, wouldn't Rand have had very mixed feelings about the implications of having a book about respect for the Law of Causality and freedom published by RANDom House? and that book shepherded along by a guy named Bennett Cerf (serf)?

REB

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Roger,

I have noticed that there is an awful lot of Rand around Rand. Lots of coincidences.

Not bad for a Rosenbaum...

Michael

[Barbara Branden]

Very resourceful of you to find a name in the phone book that wasn't there.

It was'nt easy, and required special powers of insight and imagination. But we were nothing if not resourceful.

"Brandon" was there -- and we didn't much like the "on"-- so, with brilliant resourcefulness, we invented "Branden."

Roger: "I read ~somewhere~ that Rand, perhaps even on more than one occasion, would refer to members of the Collective as her "children."

Yes, she sometimes referred to them as "the children." And she referred to Nathaniel and me that way, too, or as "the kids." . But such references to Nathaniel stopped dead when the four of us moved to New York from California. She was once asked if her feeling for Nathaniel and me was maternal, and she bristled a bit and was quick to deny it. She explained that she felt very protective toward us, but definitely not maternal.

Roger: "Personally, I find the statistical likelihood vanishingly small that you two would accidentally, or at RANDom (heh-heh), select a name bearing such a close resemblance to "Rand" -- let alone to 'ben Rand.'

The science of statistics will have to solve that problem. I can only report what happened. I suppose it's possible that subconscious influences were at work, directing our choice of a name; but that seems unlikely because Hebrew terminology would have been as alien to our subconscious as to our conscious minds. Hebrew was not a language we ever heard or had any familiarity with.

Barbara

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Barbara,

Branden is very, very rich in subconscious undertones. A very strong name. Outside of including Rand's name within it, wasn't Nathaniel a crusading hothead back then? There's fire-"brand" right there. A "brand" is a very defined something, whether trademark or kind, especially if you are promoting a different type of philosophy, a Rand brand, so to speak. Brand is also a sword. "Brande" is a Danish name, so it gets a subtle nudge from Ragnar. I could probably find some other things if I thought about it.

I don't think it was an arbitrary choice, even though you two were not consciously aware of it all. It stands head-to-head with the best of Rand's names.

Michael

[Chris Grieb]

Barbara; I see your point about all of you not being familiar with Hebrew usage.

Does anyone know when the connection about the name Branden was first made. I vaguely remember an article about the time of the 25th anniversary of "The Fountainhead". I have no idea of a publication.

Edited August 26, 2008 by Chris Grieb

[Reidy]

Nora Ephron in the NYT Sunday magazine or Sunday book review, 1968

[Brant Gaede]

Nora Ephron in the NYT Sunday magazine or Sunday book review, 1968

I read this review at the time of publication. I don't know if it was the first public note of this, but likely was. The ocassion was the 25th aniversary of the publication of The Fountainhead.

--Brant

Edited August 26, 2008 by Brant Gaede

[Nicholas Dykes]

Chris: "More than a few people have noted that Branden is combination of the words "ben" and "rand". That the word "ben" in Hebrew means "son of".

It surely is clear that Nathaniel did not view Rand as his mother. and that she did not view him as her son. Neither of them would have wanted the "son of Rand" implication of "Branden" had they been aware of it.

Barbara

Really? Now, I read ~somewhere~ that Rand, perhaps even on more than one occasion, would refer to members of the Collective as her "children." (In "Passion," perhaps? Or maybe in something Mary Ann Sures wrote? Maybe in Joan Kennedy Taylor's memoirs in the oral history dvd?)

Wouldn't this kind of reference, even if informal and light-hearted, reflect a real attitude that might inspire some of those younger ones to adopt a name reflecting that relationship? Just asking.

Personally, I find the statistical likelihood vanishingly small that you two would accidentally, or at RANDom (heh-heh), select a name bearing such a close resemblance to "Rand" -- let alone to "ben Rand." (Though I admit to not being an expert in statistics.)

For that matter, wouldn't Rand have had very mixed feelings about the implications of having a book about respect for the Law of Causality and freedom published by RANDom House? and that book shepherded along by a guy named Bennett Cerf (serf)?

REB

"book shepherded along by a guy named Bennett Cerf (serf)?!

REB, surely you know 'cerf' is French for 'stag'? Make of that what you will! Nick

[Barbara Branden]

Michael: "I don't think it was an arbitrary choice, even though you two were not consciously aware of it all. It stands head-to-head with the best of Rand's names."

That seems more to the point. Nathaniel especially liked Rand's names -- and Rearden was my favorite character in Atlas. That probably would explain why we both stopped on "Brandon" (but not on "Buttercup") when we came to it in the phone book and liked it immediately. And it would make sense of the fact that we could choose the name "Branden" without "son of Rand" being involved.

Barbara

[Chris Grieb]

Nora Ephron in the NYT Sunday magazine or Sunday book review, 1968

Reidy; You confirmed what I suspected. I suspect since it was 1968 the people around Rand had their minds on other items.

[Brant Gaede]

Nora Ephron in the NYT Sunday magazine or Sunday book review, 1968

Reidy; You confirmed what I suspected. I suspect since it was 1968 the people around Rand had their minds on other items.

A few people. "The Break" hadn't broken yet. The Fountainhead was published in April 1943 and I believe Ephron's review was published in April 1968 or very soon after.

--Brant

[Alfonso Jones]

Nora Ephron in the NYT Sunday magazine or Sunday book review, 1968

Reidy; You confirmed what I suspected. I suspect since it was 1968 the people around Rand had their minds on other items.

A few people. "The Break" hadn't broken yet. The Fountainhead was published in April 1943 and I believe Ephron's review was published in April 1968 or very soon after.

--Brant

Just imagine what it might have been like if the internet in its current state had existed in 1968 at the time of the break.

Bill P (Alfonso)

[Judith]

That seems more to the point. Nathaniel especially liked Rand's names -- and Rearden was my favorite character in Atlas. That probably would explain why we both stopped on "Brandon" (but not on "Buttercup") when we came to it in the phone book and liked it immediately. And it would make sense of the fact that we could choose the name "Branden" without "son of Rand" being involved.

That makes a lot of sense -- especially since "Rearden" is usually spelled "Reardon", and you found the more commonly spelled "Brandon".

Judith

[Donovan A.]

Barbara,

Thank you for your answer. I thought of writing you, but I figured it was too petty a question to bother you with. I have been wanting to tell you that the audio-lectures on Efficient Thinking are going very well here in Dallas. I have roughly 10-15 students that are interested in attending as regularly as possible. I am very fascinated by the ideas which are presented in the series. I am becoming more aware of my method of thinking and more conscious of my level of alertness.

Best regards,

Donovan

[Barbara Branden]

Donovan, I'm happy that my lectures are going well in Dallas, and delighted that you find them of personal value. But wait until you see the book!

Barbara

[Donovan A.]

Donovan, I'm happy that my lectures are going well in Dallas, and delighted that you find them of personal value. But wait until you see the book!

Barbara

Barbara, are you serious! When will it be published? This is so exciting.

On a side note, I was reading in the Objectivist Newsletter that you had done some radio interviews. Are any of them taped? I would love to hear them.

DA