In "The Namesake," by Jhumpa Lahiri, Gogol Ganguli who is the main character of the novel, tries to understand the meaning of his name. Identity is one of the main themes that the writer wanted to keep throughout the novel. The journey of the main character, Gogol Ganguli, starts with a letter from his parent's grandmother that never arrives. She was supposed to choose a suitable name for Bengali tradition. However , the letter does not arrive and his parents name him Gogol. The same name as a Russian author who saves his father in a train accident. By saving his father meaning that the book by the auther saves him not the author himself. Therefore the name has a very meaningful place in his father's life. The name is not common in America, in Bengali or even in Russia. People do not get a chance to choose their names. Their name is given when they are born. What is it in a name that is very important for people and why this is a lifetime matter for Gogol?.
When Gogol enters kindergarten, his parents takes him to register. His parents asks that he be called ''Nikhil'' at school. His father, Ashoke, tells him ''you can be Nikhil at school and Gogol at home.'' This is the first time Gogol questions his name. He does not want to be Nkhil, he wants to be Gogol, himself. The second time when he realizes that his name is different from other names, is when there was a school trip to a cemetery. He was very interested there because all the gravestones had an unique names like him, he relates himself to them. Moreover in the novel, Gogol decides to change his name before he goes to Yale. He wanted a fresh start away from his family and his traditions. He decides to be called Nikhil. Nikhil and Gogol are two different characters, the things Nikhil could dare to do, Gogol would never imagine himself having a courage to do. Nikhil had a girl for the first time in his life in collage, however if he was still Gogol, he would be looking for girls from far away and never have a courage to talk to them.