After discussing my name with my parents, I learned that both my mama and daddy fell in love with the name and chose me to own it for my whole life. First, the significance of my middle name is that it is my mama’s first name, Lee. Since they both fell in love with Victoria my daddy loves and care for my mama so much that he wanted to incorporate her name somehow into mine and that is how I got my middle name. My parents also knew they did not want me to go by Victoria and did not want me to be Vicky or any derivative of that, so they decided to shorten it to Tori. My first name does not relate to any family members, it is unique, but my middle name is related to my mama’s name. 

Surprisingly, I have had some bad opportunities that my name has given me. In high school I used to pole vault and I was at a meet and on the roster, it had my full name. At the meets there is an announcer who calls each person up when it is their turn. Well he began by saying Victoria and I guess after the first couple of rounds that was too difficult, so he began to announce, “Vicky Arnold up next”. I remember feeling so embarrassed because that was not my name, not even close to my name, but I was too shy to correct him. I remember watching my family behind the fence just laughing away when he would call me up, but how else can you react to something as silly and small as that? Another issue I have faced with my name Tori is when I go to introduce myself to new people, they might not hear Tori right away. I have introduced myself before and had them call back, Cory or Lori and I am just like no it is Tori with a T. Whenever that happens, I feel slightly uncomfortable because I just want people to get my name correct on the first try. 

Of course, while I was in my mama’s belly my parents went back and forth on the perfect baby name for me. After chatting with my daddy, I learned he wanted to name me Victoria Elaine, but my mama was not going for the middle name. He also wanted to name me Toria after the British band Kinks. I guess they had a song with that name that he loved and wanted to name me that. Thankfully my mama stopped him. Eventually they both agreed and fell in love with Victoria Lee which stuck as my name. My nickname I have had my whole life is Tori, because that is what my parents decided before I was born. My grandma on my daddy’s side of the family will call me “Miss Victoria” and I hate it so much because it makes me feel I must be on my best behavior. One of my friends gave me a nickname of Torticles, I have no idea why, but my friend group has just reduced it to Torts. Another nickname I got was from my old soccer coach, he would call me Viki Lee because he said it sounded like a country singer. 

Overall, I love my name and I am so thankful my parents blessed me with this beautiful name. After learning the meaning of my name and being able to reflect after almost twenty-six years I fell more in love with my name. I appreciate this assignment because now I am able to embrace more of myself and where I come from more than I had before.