Neil: I'm Neil.
Beth: And I'm Beth.
Neil: Names tell us a lot about a person.
Many names have meanings – Paul, for example, means 'humble',
and the name, Anna, originated from a Hebrew word meaning 'graceful'.
Beth: Our name is an important part of our identity -
if you hear someone shout your name in the street,
you automatically turn to look.
But names also reveal cultural and family connections
which give us a sense of our history and our place in the world.
Neil: In this programme, we'll be meeting a writer
whose name combines two very different sides of her identity –
one English, and the other Indian.
Sheela Banerjee was born in Hayes,
West London to parents from the east Indian state of Bengal.
We'll be hearing about Sheela's research into her name and family history,
and, as usual, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.
Beth: But first I have a question for you, Neil.
As every parent knows, choosing your child's name isn't easy.
Names go in and out of fashion,