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My first name came about as my father had a dream and in the dream my maternal grandfather who had passed told my father you are going to have a daughter and to name her Heron. I really never got a full understanding about that from my father, but what a surmised was as his name was Ron that her belonged to Ron (Heron). My father & I were very close, actually he delivered me at home as my mother was not able to get to the hospital on time. Also my middle name is Faith and my mother prayed for years to have a girl, (2 sons came first), but she had faith she would have a girl and that is where my middle names comes in. Also I gave my oldest daughter my name spelled backwards Noreh and also Faith so her full middle name is Noreh Faith and she gave her daughter the middle name Faith as well.

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My name is Ruth Ellen. I was named after my maternal grandmother, Ennis Ruth. When I was little, I hated it. It reminded me of the Waltons. "Goodnight John Boy, goodnight Mary Ellen" (I'm dating myself). As I got older, it seemed all the Ruth's I met were over 80. Now that I'm in my 50's I have grown into my name. I identify with a couple of strong, intelligent, passionate Ruth's - true women trailblazers: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and world renowned sex therapist "Dr. Ruth" Westheimer. Reflecting on their resolve, willingness to take chances and stand up for their beliefs, and accomplishments give me strength and make me proud to be a Ruth!
~Ruth Thomson

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It is from the Old Testament where God is speaking to the barren woman and says, "Be joyous barren woman for ye shall have children." I try to live up to that name. (My name has been mispronounced my whole life as we rarely lived in Israel due to my father's work, but when I go to Israel, lo and behold, I'm Ronit!!)

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My father was Joseph Philip Rotella and his father was Joseph Verdi Rotella. I'll bet he was called Giuseppe by my great grandfather Philip Rotella, who immigrated from Calabria and settled in Nashville. I'm proud to carry on the legacy of these Josephs and Philips. We're known for big gestures and impish grins. The next time you watch an opera by the real Giuseppe Verdi, find the character who's there for comic relief- he's one of us!

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My name is Hedieh, and in Farsi, Turkish, Arabic it means gift. I grew up thinking that siblings and cousins were required to have names beginning with the same letter: Hedieh, Haleh, Hoda, Hamed (I've since learned that it's just my family!) My grandfather, now 91 years old, has always lifted me up, told me I am capable and special and he would use my name in these pep talks. "You are truly a Hedieh, a gift, from God." Having now cared for patients who carry trauma from never having someone believe in them, tell them they are capable, worthy, special, I am even more appreciative of the figures in my life who named me, and reminded me to remember my worth.

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Not mine, but my parent's names.  They were both family names - my dad was a Jr. and my mom named after an ancestor. But they were both given nicknames as children that stuck to them their whole lives.  My dad was Bud, my mom was Pungy.  As a child, I literally did not know who people were talking about if they referenced Harry or Eleanor - as I grew older, that's how I could tell friends from minor acquaintances.  In addition, my mom would call my grandma "Bud's mother" when she would speak about her to friends or relatives on her side.  Imagine my surprise when I eventually found out her real name was Marie - my middle name!

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For the first 25 years of my life I had a totally different name, that I reflect on fondly now! But as a kid

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For the first 18 years of my life I only had one name, the one that all of you who know me actually call me, and that's Eric Trapp. I am biracial (of German/English and Taiwanese descent). Being born in Taiwan with only an English name and an American citizenship, I always felt that part of the Taiwanese half of my identity was lacking something. My sister, who is 4 years older than me, had a Chinese and English name from birth and I was always jealous of that. So during her annual trip back to Taiwan, my Mom thought she'd visit a Buddhist temple and have one of the monks divine a name for me based off information she gave them. So for my 18th birthday I got a name.

The characters in "Hong Lin" directly translate to "A heavy downpour of rain over a forest canopy" which, first of all, just sounds cool, but also holds a lot of connection to the ideas of resilience and nourishment that really resonate with me personally. I still go by Eric in every day life because that is the name I grew up calling myself, but for the past 8 years I have felt more whole as a biracial person having a name that belongs only to me and that half of my identity. Names hold so much power and it was a delight being able to learn about all of yours!

Eric Trapp/Tsai Hong Lin

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Sharon appears in the Old Testament twice and refers to a fertile plain. However, the name, Sharon, is rooted in the Canaanite goddess Asherah, a consort of Jehovah. Bigger is a Scottish-derived name from Bigar, which means "small mound of earth" or hill (baeg= small; tier= earth). We were the lowland Scots who moved back and forth between Scotland and Ireland so much that we came to be known as the Scot-Irish. In the late 1700s, three Bigar brothers sailed into the Port of Philadelphia and then traveled down the Shenandoah Valley and through southern Appalachia to settle in York, South Carolina. I now live in Asheville, North Carolina, where many other Scot-Irish live.

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The origin is Greek and means "beautiful". While my mom was pregnant with me, she was reading a book with a character whose name was Jacinda. My parents looked up the origin/meaning of the name and fell in love with it.

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I am named for my French grandmother's best childhood friend. Esme is derived from an old French verb, estim

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My first name is SarahScott, which is a double name. I'm told it is a Southern naming practice, in my case anyway, and if my parents had been doing it "right" it would have been my mother's maiden name. It's not, but both parts of mine are family names. I grew up or have known a Katie Rose, Mary Kate, Mary Scott, Ann Thomas, Sarah Ellen, Sarah Ann, Mary Anne, Sarah Elizabeth... it was not common but not unheard of!  Since moving north, I have to do a lot more explaining.  "Is Scott your last name?" "Do you even have a middle name?" "Did your parents want a boy or something?" "Can I just call you Sarah?" I love my name, but it can be exhausting. The gift of it is that it makes me so much more sensitive to other people's names and what they want to be called.

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My maiden name is Hackett, but I chose to take my husband's name when I got married. I am very close to my mother-in-law who has really made my professional career possible by helping us raise our children. My in-laws are from mainland China originally but grew up in Taiwan. When I got married, my mother-in-law gave me a Chinese name from my given name Liz. The Chinese say the last name first, so my name is Chuang Li Zhi. Loosely translated this means "bearer of Chuangs." She had a sparkle in her eye when told me that. I'm not sure whether it was a name or a command. I hope I did a good job - I bore 2 beautiful Chuang children.

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I'm generally asked about my last name: Which I always explain was inherited by marriage. Its a combination of a English colonial family name from the coast of Nigeria, whom my husband's family (Meshack) worked for.
My actual Maiden family name was Nielsen, from Denmark. My first name, Samantha, was just something my late Mother liked. I've always gone by Sam, as its just easier. Practical. It means "The Listener" which is ironic given how many stories I listen to in my work each day.

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Lacey is a fairly unique name - I love having that. Apparently my parents saw the name in TV credits while my mom was pregnant and they loved it!

I work a lot internationally and have encountered many people who don't understand my name. Usually it's either 'Lazy' or 'Racy'! Though risque or suggestive is how we often think of 'racy', it also means full of zest or vigor - really the complete opposite of 'lazy'.

"To live an undivided life, we must integrate opposing forces into an authentic whole." (courtesy of a recent and excellent GeriPal blog, 'Let it Break'). Good food for thought!

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All of my family who live in the Eastern hemisphere have the last name Tsui. All of my family who live in the Western hemisphere have the last name Chui. In many ways, it's a "Westernization" of a common Chinese last name. Part of me argues that it's nice being earlier in the alphabet, but it's also been interesting to explain how to "actually say" my last name to almost everyone I encounter. All of my family has chosen easy to say "American" names, but we hold on to our heritage by having our original Chinese names as our official middle names. So every time I reflect on my full name, it's a reminder of the story and legacy of my family, untold history, & the ever-evolving identity of being Asian-American.

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My name is a product of Korean expats living in America. It's a name close enough to the Korean "Yu-jin" and familiar enough to avoid an awkward pause classrooms. It's shared with countless Korean "Eugenes" -- I've met at least 6 so far. I suspect our backstories are shared. It doesn't represent my "Korean" name though as I have another one of those. So my name is a constant reminder of my fraying connection and my parents' resilience.

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My name is Sonia Malhotra.  Sonia in the Hindi language has multiple meanings.  Ranging from "beautiful", "pretty", "wise", "golden."  My most favorite meaning of my name is "Where She Goes Happiness Brings."    To me, this is what I hope to strive for in life, to bring happiness in life in both my personal and professional lives.

Malhotra is based on the name of a clan from the khatri caste. The founder of the Malhotra clan is said to have been called Mehr Chand.

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My first name is ALAN. I am the oldest of 5 boys, named in alphabetical order: [Alan]-[B]-[C]-[D]-[E]. My mother was an only child whose Dad died when she was young. Hence, she wanted to have a large family…especially a daughter because she never had a sister. All of us boys were named in honor of deceased ancestors. [A]-[B]-[C] were accidentally in chronological order; yet, they intentionally continued—both alphabetically and hoping for a daughter. People often asked my parents what they might name a daughter beginning with the letter [F]. My mother said, “FINALLY!” But, my father had a different choice: “FINISHED!!”

Some referred to us as the "Alphabet Gang" growing up. Our names would be shortened to the use of letters: “Tell [A] to move the car.” Subsequently, replacing letters with numbers: “[4] & [5] please come set the table.” Nonetheless, this never stopped our parents from STILL calling us the names of our dogs, though. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Epilogue: My daughter is named Ari and my son is Zach--soooo, [A]—>[Z]…*DONE*!!!!  😉  🙏. 😂

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My last name comes originally from the Dale of Tweed and the River Tweed in Scotland. There a MANY Twaddle's, Twaddell's, Tweedies, Tweedales etc in that fair land. The favorite aspect of my name, though is it can be a verb or a noun and it literally means: Silly Nonsense. You can say "that's a bunch of twaddle" and be twaddler by spreading twaddle. My Dad said are name was really Smith but he told us it was Twaddle so we would never take ourselves too seriously.

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My surname means “Great King” but trust me, I am by no means royalty.
The Maharaj name is popular in Trinidad among people of East Indian descent. My ancestors left India with hope of opportunity, leaving to Trinidad to work in the sugar cane fields.
Maybe my ancestors wanted a regal name to compensate for their humble beginnings. Maybe the name stuck when describing where they came from to the British rulers of the day while registering their identity.
I like to think that my great grandparents, starting anew, wanted to leave a reminder for their progeny  to work hard to earn the title.
I’m still working on that! 🤨

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The evolution of meaning to my name.  My middle name comes from my paternal grandmother- we had the same middle name.  Growing up, "Heather Lea"  was the name used to make sure I was listening to my parents in a "Heather Lea- stop doing that" kind of way.  After my grandmother died,  the use of "Heather Lea"  transitioned to a much more endearing term for me.  When my family and I chat, this name now reminds of fabulous memories  of my wonderful grandmother, parents, and family times together.  Heather Coats

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The name in itself has multiple facets.  My first name is more of a title and connects me with my Pakistani heritage from the Mughal empire.

My middle name is Arabic and stems from a story during the Prophet Mohammed's (pbuh) time where he wanted to study Islam under the prophet's tutelage.  As he was getting ready to travel. his mother became ill.  He wrote to Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) and said he could not come, and Prophet Mohammed declared him his true friend as taking care of your parents is every Muslim's duty.  Also interestingly enough my name translates to "little Jesus" and in Syria and Egypt it is slang for a Christian.

My last name is actually more turkish and means perfected. It actually isn't my family's real last name (initially it was Khan). My father did not like redundancy so he dropped the last Khan and went to the front of the alphabet. I do appreciate not being known as Khan Khan as I feel its already confusing that every male in my father's family has the two names as bookends. How's that for confusing.

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The name used by my nieces and nephews for me, "Aunt Ginger," is extremely important to me. All of my nieces and nephews have made it into my Purple Forest bedtime stories as princes and princesses. Here is a pic of my nieces, nephews, grand nephews, brothers, sisters, husband, and second cousins. My heart is full.  Ginger Marshall

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I was supposed to be named "Estrella" which means Star in Spanish as my father was an aspiring musician in Mexico, but my mother was a mid-westerner from Kansas City, MO..so insisted on a biblical name. Even though my parents were divorced shortly after I was born and my Irish-Scottish-German mother relocated and remarried in the US, I kept my last name because it represented an unknown past. I later re-connected with my biological father and found out that I was Basque and Oaxaca Indian and that my last name was from Spain. I am always confused what to click...am I Latino? Irish? ;-)

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My parents decided to spell my name phonetically, the way people actually say Sharon.  However very few people read my name as Sharon, and I get all sorts of attempts.  Sheeran, She Ran, etc.  Hard for a young girl growing up, but a conversation starter in the later years.

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My name is Masako. I was born in Japan. When I first came to the United States, my English teacher suggested that I use the name "Maxine" in order to sound more American. I used the name for while because I wanted to fit in but I was pleasantly surprised to find that people wanted to get to know the real me including my not-so-easy real name. In Japanese, Masako translates to "truth." After discovering many of my patients were immigrants also and proud of their heritage, I realized that it was important for me to use my real name so they could get to know the "true" me.

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My birth name was Hui-Ling. However, as we were about to emigrate to America, my parents thought it best if I had an "American" name as Hui-Ling might be hard to pronounce. Thus, they asked my dad's American secretary what would be the equivalent in English and she picked "Helen".

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In Vietnamese, one's name is written/read from right to left as opposed to left to right. My Vietnamese mom mistakenly wrote my name as Ann Lili  on my birth certificate. I had been called Lili or Lili Ann at home up until kindergarten, when my teacher said I wasn't responding (She had been calling me Ann and I didn't know that was me!). So from then on, I went by Ann at school/work and Lili  at home. This gets confusing when people I know from either settings cross paths. There have been times when my siblings aren't sure how to introduce me. Now I am grateful for both names as I identify my professional identity as Ann and my silly, goofy, jovial, most raw self as Lili.

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My maternal great grandmother died the day before I was born-. The Ashkenazi Jewish tradition is to name our children after relatives who have died, and thus, my name. My great grandmother came from Poland with nothing and had a pushcart on the Lower Eastside of Manhattan- to scrape by. I am told she had great fortitude. I try to live up to her legacy.

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My dad’s name is Nelve Puckett McFarlin III.  Growing up everyone found it difficult to pronounce and outside of his family no one shared that name.  He hated it. So he was determined to give me a very common name. Jessica was listed as the most often used name in the US the year I was born so he picked that.  My middle name is also the middle name of my grandmother.

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My parents were both raised Christian, where the story of David, son of Jesse in the Bible is retold throughout their lives from the pulpit to the Sunday school class.  My mom, being surprised by the knowledge that twins were coming, planned to name me Jesse. However, at the birth, she was surprised to learn I was a little girl. She quickly thought through and used her "Blue back speller" plan to name me Jesse only put a feminine slant as Jesika (this is the phonetic spelling of Jessica). I loved the unique nature of the spelling and didn't meet another person who spelled the name this way until my late 20's. Lee is a family name from my parents and one which I have passed on to my daughter.
-Jesika Lee, Clearwater, FL

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Born 1st generation of Mexican immigrants. Upon entering the US and gaining residency the government changed our surname to a 'Ybarra', dad wouldn't have it. My birth certificate was sent back to reflect the appropriate surname of 'Ibarra'. Half of the family in the US has there name with a 'Y'.

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When I was born, my father resisted giving me a Japanese middle name although he was a Nisei. So my mother waited. When I was 10, my paternal grandmother's breast cancer returned. And so, my parents legally changed my name to add Yoshiko (her first name) as my middle name to honor her. It means "Good Girl" in Japanese and I am so grateful to have her power and spirit with me always.

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I was born in Puerto Rico and was named by my grandmother who's name was also Maria as was my mother's. My mother wanted to name me Grace but my grandmother wouldn't approve of it. My family has always called me Grace, even my grandmother!

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My father's name was Cardinal. My grandmother (Roman Catholic) wanted him to become a priest and named him Cardinal to give him a head start. My sister and I are proof that that was not his calling. My mom said I looked alot like him when I was born and so she added an "e" to femininize the name.