What’s in a Name?
The “etymology” of naming Maxwell alongside an introduction to our series on color that spans our founder’s global influences from a Scottish mathematician to a set of 90s twins.
It all started with my childhood friend Ashley, when she was 7 and I was 4. Born with an eldest sibling authority that presented itself long before my five younger siblings were born, I directed our play time, telling Ashley exactly how things were going to play out. But as much as I bossed her (nicely and respectfully says my parents), I really admired Ashley and wanted to be just like her. And much of that had to do with her name. Ashley was so cool. In fact, I only knew cool Ashleys. (This remains to be true!)
Growing up in the 90s under the influence of Mary-Kate and Ashley—the epitome of cool—meant it was built into the name.
All of this made my name, Mallory, the opposite of cool. Too odd. No one was named Mallory . When I quizzed my parents about their choice, they said Mallory translated to an “English postman,” meaning a “deliverer of good news.” When I performed my own research via a baby name book at age 11, I found it meant something else completely: a nickname for an unfortunate person. Mal is bad in so many languages! From that point on, I was on a mission for a new name. I asked a few people to call me “Laurie” as a sort of short version of Mallory, but it lasted about a minute.
Since my early obsession with “Ashley,” I’ve kept a running list of names I like set into possible categories, some for homes or cars, others for businesses or domain names for businesses that didn’t yet exist (wink), and longer lists for pets and possible children. Fred and Susie rose to the top to name a set of fish I had. When they passed on, I just recycled the names! More recently, one of those names came off the list to name our new pup, a sheepdog we call Sherman.
The Treehouse, surrounded by a winter wonderland
Sherman & Apollo
Lucy, once her lovely new owner spruced her up! (I couldn’t find photos of my time with her…. :) )
The “possible kids names” list remains bountiful. So, with no young ones yet to name, but a new business to form—one that includes many of my creative loves rolled into one boutique agency—I knew where to look for inspiration. As I scrolled my lifelong list, the name Maxwell popped out at me. I’ve always loved the name, and it felt right for this business I was “birthing.” The more I researched the name, I discovered
James Clerk Maxwell: a Scottish mathematician who is most famous for coming up with the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation. (Which I confess, I know nothing about…)
But he also invented the color wheel which has influenced how we understand and approach color to this day—a topic of great interest to me too. His fascination with color bled into other aspects: color perception, color blindness, and color theory. He was the first person to share capturing a color photograph using prisms—and true to his heritage, his first photograph was of a tartan! Maxwell also was the Chair of Natural Philosophy at King’s College London, my Alma Mater for my graduate studies.
So, me being fifty percent Scottish, with some strong MacDonald/MacDougal blood flowing through me, a husband named James, and my own obsession with color, this research confirmed that Maxwell was indeed the best name choice for my new venture!
James Clerk Maxwell & the first color wheel
After two-plus years in business, Maxwell still feels like the very right name—even more so.
Through working with our clients to increase their reach and impact through their brand and marketing pieces, we’ve learned this: we want to invest our time and energy from a place of wholeness and wellness... you could say we are maximizing the wellness. Max well.
Starting a business in February of 2020, there was no way to foresee the global and economic trials to come, not to mention the personal and health issues I experienced, but Maxwell remained open, continuing the journey. As a person who loves a full calendar of meetings, plans, people, these last 2-ish years were a hard halt on the life I was used to leading. But, also a good forced slow down. A time to reflect. A time to learn how to pace myself (still learning).
In the meantime, I have learned so much about design, color, and some of the meanings behind the two.
Inspired by it all, we are in the midst of creating blog posts around the subject of color. I think you’ll be surprised at how many nooks and crannies—and Alice in Wonderland–type rabbit holes we’ve found ourselves going down along the way.
We’re excited to share our findings so far, and plan to continue to let our curiosity guide us as we explore the meaning, science, history, perception, psychology, nuance...the list goes on… around color. And hope you enjoy the colorful ride.
P.S. I now love my name—Maxwell—and no longer want to be anything else. And the name Mallory has grown on me too.
—Mallory MacDonald, Founder of Maxwell Creative
Mallory is known for her big ideas, but is now revealing her lifelong obsession with color. Her penchant for a neutral palette sets the foundation for the colorful characters she attracts to her forest house on Vashon Island.
