Thursday, June 01, 2006

June Blog Exchange - What's In a Name?

This post is part of a June Blog Exchange on the theme "What's in a Name?" Click hereto read more. And, if you'd like to participate, email Kristen at kmei26 at yahoo.com.

It's time again for the blog exchange. Which means for me, the only time my blog actually gets updated lately. I would like to welcome Elissa from Punk Rock Parents....

What's in a Name??

We agonized over what to name our new puppy. He was nameless for way too long and we tossed around a ton of different names, combination of names, and we eventually ended up with "Mr. Buck-a-roo Fantastic". Yes we struggled for weeks to come up with that name. Then a few years later we were forced to name our unborn baby. The boy name can easily to us, but the girls name was a whole different story. After about 4 ultra-sounds we didn't know for sure that we were having a girl but the odds were high. When it came to naming a girl I left it entirely up to my fiancé. I did not want to do to my daughter, what my Mom did to me. I was named Elissa. Not Alyssa or Alicia, but "Uh-lee-ss-uh." My name is not strange or too unusual; it is not exotic or foreign. I have met other women named Elissa and we share our ever-enduring hardship. No one can ever pronounce the name correctly. I think that I have been called Alyssa more than my actual name. Infact I have been at my job for 2 years. I work in a small office with one other person. When I answer the phone I always say my name and YET, my co-worker still calls me Alyssa. I am just tired of correcting her. I am tired of correcting everyone. Every time I went into a classroom it was always the same. It would be time for roll call and everyone' name would be called. "Jessica", "here" "Ben", "here" and then "Alyssa" after making sure there wasn't an Alyssa in the class I would say "It's Elissa". I never got to say "here". I didn't want my daughter to go through that but I didn't want her to be named "Mary" either. So the job was left to my fiancé. Just days before our daughter was born he decided on a name. Sophia. I was afraid that it would be too "girly" and when I called my newborn daughter Sophia for the first time it was strange. She is one-year old now and I feel like she has really become "Sophia". Not because there is a certain personality that "Sophia's" should fit, but because she is developing into her own. Now I watch my sister struggle with naming her twins, who are due in September. She has a boy and a girl on the way and she is stumped on names. I hope she knows that their name will not define who they are.

Elissa aka Punk Rock Mom! I am the ultimate multi-tasker. My daughter, Sophia, just turned 1 and since she was about 4 months old has been coming to the office with me. I am a 28 year old and will be getting married in 24 days!

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think that's a great point to be made. Your name does not make you - however, I do think a name can break you...

11:46 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Hello,

Found your site while surfing through Blog Explosion. Cool Blog.



Cheers,

Franco

11:20 AM  

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