'First names appear to be closely associated with the ego and become highly cathected during the preoedipal period. Family names develop importance during the formation of the superego, especially during the oedipal period. Fantasies associated with family names during this period are commonly repressed with other facets of the Oedipus complex. They reappear during puberty when adolescent social relationships revive the Oedipus and family rivalries. Marriage may arouse problems concerning the use and the forgetting of names, especially among women who have surrendered their names. The choice made by divorcées of resuming their maiden names or retaining their former husbands' names is often worthy of note. The birth of children sometimes has the effect of evoking conflicts concerning the choice of names.'

The author provides numerous clinical examples of the importance of names in character-structure and neurosis.