Rashidi

September  26/2016

The Secret Behind My Name

          I was really surprised when I first time got here to the U.S, because in a hundred years I would have not thought that my teachers would pronounce it correctly like my friends do back home in Saudi Arabia. In fact, my name is actually means guidance or to guide and help people. Plus, Rashidi it is a tribal name in some countries in the Middle East.

          in fact, I was so happy when the Americans started say my name correctly maybe the people here in Chicago might have found it short and easy to pronounce or simply because in my class room there are more than one people who have the same exact name and that what made it easy for the teachers to remember it so quick.

       Ultimately, I really don’t care about what kind of names have I or anyone else got. Because at the end of the day it is a name not something really important to me and should not be that important to anyone too. But what really important is my personality and behavior toward people and I would rather people recognize me about my actions instead of my name. 

My name - Maria Goncalves

My Name

      

      Virgin Maria in the Catholic religion is mother is Jesus. She is the perfect example of a woman. Mary means "full of grace". In the Bible, she is the mother of all mothers, and she guides women to never give up.

     I grew up in a very catholic family. My name reminds Virgin Maria. For this reason, my name means a lot for them. My mother has the same name as me, but Maria is her second name. She didn't give me this name because of her. In fact, my real name in Brazil is Maria Eduarda. When my mother was a little girl, she already had a name for a girl and for a boy, so when I born she knew what my name was going to be. I love my name because it's a common name. It's easy for everybody to understand and it has a very important meaning for my family.

My Name

My name is “Wing-Kei” in Cantonese. They are two separate, individual words. My parents named me Wing-kei because they wanted their baby to be smart and precious. In Chinese, “wing” means outstanding, smarter than anybody else. “Kie” symbolize a beautiful jade and infrequent. Of course, the name is a best wish from my parents.
I didn’t really like my name when I was child, because in Chinese character my name has too many strokes. It was hard to write for me when I was a little kid learning to write my own name. My last name “Li” is especially difficult, it has thirteen strokes for the one character. In addition, I don’t like my name pronounce in mandarin--“Ying-Qi”. When my parents named me, it was according to Cantonese. That’s the reason I think “Wing-Kei” sounds correct. Even though it is the same word and same meaning in Chinese character, but “YingQi” just doesn’t sounds correct for me.

This is how my last name looks like.

Mohammed Aldriwesh ( MAADr)
September 20, 2016
The Writing Assignment “My Name”

 

                                  The story of my name
            My name is Mohammed. It is one of the most common names in my religion. The prophet of Allah for Islam is Mohammed, so there are many Muslims called Mohammed. In fact, I like to be different, but my name doesn’t help me to be that because there are hundreds of millions of people around the world who called Mohammed. Also, I named after my uncle and there are a lot of people who are named Mohammed in my family.  I was given this name by my mother because she loves my uncle and she has wished that I become like him. Then, my name means the praiseworthy such as the praiseworthy of god.  In addition, my father wanted to name me Ali because it is his best friend’s name, but my mother did not agree with that, so she needed 5 days to convince him. My nickname is Maadr, it means the first words of my name, my father’s name, my grandfather’s name, and my family’s name; Mohammed Abdlatif Abdulrahman Aldriwesh. When I graduated from high school, I needed to create email to apply for universities, so I was confused about choosing a name for my email. My brother told me that you could be different if you name your email Maadr, so I have liked this idea and I decided that Maadr is my nickname.

 

 

Smash

                A long time ago, more than a thousand years, there was a famous man called Hashim. He was an Arabic man who lived in Makah, which is located in Asia. He was known as a respectful, generous, and helpful man for all. Also, he had a high postion among people at that time. Furthermore he was the grandfather of prophet Mohamed. Due to this history, this name has become famous and unique . In fact, it is a rare name and usually grandsons of prophet Mohamed are named Hashim. However, my parents named me Hashim, and I am so proud of it. I feel that I am really special when someone calls me Hashim. It means crusher and brave destroyer of evil.

                I have two sisters and two brothers. My elder sister is named Zahra. Her name means flowers in English, and it is very common. Zainab is the granddaughter of prophet Mohamed. My other sister has the same name, Zainab. Mohammad and Mortadah are my other siblings. Mohamed is the oldest and Mortadah is the youngest. The prophet’s cousin Ali, was called also Mortadah, and that is why my bother has that same name. In brief, all my family names are from ancient Arabic.     

My name

Groundhog

            When I was born, my grandfather gave me the name “AON”; this is a name of an animal in Laos.  He pictured me as a groundhog, and called me a little groundhog.  This was quite cute and very sweet of him. I remember, when I was little girl and living in Laos, he had always reminded me of his given name, and he seemed so proud of it.  My mother said he had given a name to only me.  I believed he thought I was a fat baby and that’s why he named me after a groundhog. Besides, the name after that animal my name doesn’t mean anything.  I love my name, and don’t want to change it.  It’s already short and easy to pronounce.  Unlike, some people that I know who have very difficult name.  Now that I moved to Chicago, I don’t have trouble with this name; Most of my friends can say it without any problem.  A funny story about my name is my husband likes to play jokes.  He said I am a rich person because I’m the owner of the insurance company that’s also call AON.  Every time when walk by the AON building, he always asks “How is your business going, isn’t better than last year?”  It’s funny, but I love it.

 

Effects of a Name

Effects of a Name

            Common name puts you’re into an unintended trouble and you are harassed against your will. The school report was switched with the other girl, and someone’s love letter delivered to wrong. My name was very common name when I was in school. I always met another Misun at the beginning of the semester. Teachers and classmates called me “taller Misun” to distinguish between me and the other Misun. It often made me sad that I was not called by owns. I really wanted a special name like my brothers.

            One day, my grandmother visited my house, and she called me to ask for a glass of water. That time, I was shocked because she didn’t say it clearly. I am a girl. Women leave from their family after got married. It means that girl is not important grandchild for her. In Korea, men took care of their family and inherited from their parents in her time. Most old people were only concerned their grandsons. They choose a name carefully when their kid is a boy. I was disappointed that my parents decided on my name in just minutes. My one of classmates was a consolation to me. She has been given a boy’s name from her parents because they believed the superstition if choose a boy’s name for their daughter, they can have a son next time.

            After gave her a glass of water, I wrote names of my family members on the paper. My eyes focused on my brothers. I was jealous of the unique and luxurious names of my brothers. “How are beautiful!” I thought that it makes person special.  I knew that a person’s name consisted of many things. There are expectation, love and hope of parents for their child. However, I couldn’t find them from my name. A careless, very simple my name has not any love, expectation of my parents.

Suddenly, laughter filled in the living room. My family was watching a TV show. A famous comedy woman appeared on TV. She was showing the performance as usual, but I couldn’t laugh like them because a classmate told me again that day. “Hey, make me laugh!”  The comedy woman is also Misun. However, she has never made me laugh.  

             After I became an adult, I didn’t like my name, but I understand my parents. They couldn’t afford to concern themselves with their youngest. My father often worked overtime, and my mother was tired of taking care of two boys every day. Too common, not fancy and unimpressive my name no longer makes me sad. I feel my mother’s love every time I open the letters from her. The most important thing is that my name is not common in the United States. 

New Start

New Start

In Chinese my name means a gorgeous pearl. It is a beautiful name, but it is very common in my home country. In the same school, there may be one or two people with the same name.

Even though my name is very common, I love it very much. My name was picked when I was born. I was my parents’ first child. When I was born, my parents started to choose the name for me. They thought girls are supposed to have a beautiful name, so my parents checked the dictionary and analyzed the meaning of the different names.

At last, they chose the name “Yan” and “Zhu” to combine together. “Yan” means gorgeous and “Zhu” means pearl, so they hope my future would be like a gorgeous peal and I could have a wonderful life. In the U.S., I always use my formal name not my nickname at school. I hope everyone can remember my name.

In addition, in many cities in my home country, some parents don’t like to name their children after the parents’ and their relationships’ name, but the siblings always have one same character in their names. Honestly, I don’t understand why my home country China has these traditions, but maybe one day I will research this and find out why.

Best Gift

   People say a name is the first gift that parents give their children. This gift contains best wish and blessing. Do you like your name? I like mine. It is not the most special, but it must be the most unique.

    My name is simple and easily to remember, but that’s not the reason why I like my name. I like my name because it has a special meaning. In Chinese, my name means appreciation. I am thankful that my parents have given me such a pretty name. They must have wanted me to learn how to thank each person who is living in my life and loving me. However, I am not only thankful for living in this wonderful world, I am also thankful for my parents who brought me to the world and have given me all the best.

    Nevertheless, I like my name because there is a coincidence story behind it. In China, people do not celebrate Thanksgiving and my parents never knew this festival before they came to Chicago. However, the coincidence is I was born on this meaningful holiday. Thanksgiving as a day of giving thanks for the blessing. Its meaning is similar like the meaning of my name. I like the unexpected coincidence because it's make my name lovelier.

    That is the best gift my parents have given it to me. I would like my name of the meaning to live and I will take their best wish to appreciate everything. I like my name, and you?

A Good Name for a Girl

        In China, people think that a good name is a very important thing, so many parents spend a lot of time think about a good name for their children. My name is Ting Hu. In Chinese my name means beauty, elegance, and good things. In China, Ting is a common’s girl name. In fact, my name wasn’t my parent’s idea. My mother told me when I was born, my father worked in another city. My auntie and other elders of my family stayed in my home, and they wanted to give me a name. Finally, my auntie thought about a name with Ting. She thought it is a good girl’s name and very suitable for me . My parents also agreed with her idea, so my name came out of this. 

       I really didn’t like my name when I was a teenager. Teenagers always hope that they are special and unique. At that time, I also hoped that I would be different from other people including my name. I met a lot of girls who have the same name with me in China. I didn’t like this common name because I wanted to have special name. Therefore, when I was in middle school, I thought about many names for myself, but finally I rejected these names because they were not better. Now, I moved in Chicago. I changed my mind about my name. In English, Ting is easy to pronounce and remember, so I think this is a very greater thing. For me, a name is just a symbol and no other meaning. 

The Symbol of Gold and Intelligence

The Symbol of Gold and Intelligence

In Chinese my name is very special. It means memory, wisdom, gold, and intelligence. It is like a person that never did anything wrong in his/her entire life. In English it means luck and joy. It is like the lucky number seven. Full of lucks and joy.

When I was born, my parents took me to see a master. A person who could tell them about their future. The master takes a look at the baby that my parents were holding on their hands. The baby that they were holding was me, the author of this story. The master told my parents that I was born without gold or metal in my life, so he told them to name me with a word that has something about gold or metal in it. That’s how I got the name of “Jiaming”. There are two words in my Chinese name. The word “Jia” means intelligence and joy. The word “Ming” means gold and memory.

In elementary school people always pronounce my name the wrong way it was. They told me that the way how they say it is easier for they to pronounce it. A lot of people likes my name because it is one of a kind, unique and original to the other classmates in my school.

When I think about my name, there are two words that came to my mind. They are gold and intelligence. In my name gold does not mean money. It means a heavy metal that can contain the demons inside me. Intelligence does not mean smart. It means think like a wise man don’t make stupid mistakes.

If there is a chance for me to change my name to something else, I would stay with the name that I am having. It is a name that my parents give me. The only thing that will stay with me for my whole life, and nobody can take it away from me. 

This one or that one?

My name was chosen by my parents. I'm sure about how my name was chosen. According to what my aunt said, during the time that mother was pregnant, my parents did not choose a certain name until I was born. They went to a temple and told my birthday to a monk who gave them a list of names. After that, the only thing my parents needed to do is find one they like the most. I once wondered why the monks know how to name a baby and where the list comes from. I think it is just part of the religion that belongs to a culture. "A good name can bring you some luck," the monk said.

Nevertheless, my parents chose an unusual name. Feng means blade. It means going upward. It means the peak. For me, the funniest thing about my name is its pronunciation because it sounds like having a bad cold.

I don’t really care about my name. It's just a way for people to call each other and identify each other. The name is meaningless without a certain personality. There is no difference for me if they call me something else. A painting is still the same painting no matter how the frame looks.

Temple

The Peak

Behind a Name

My name is Julio Ng. It is a short name compared to other people’s names. My first name is a Brazilian name, and my last name is in Chinese. Many people from Brazil think my surname is a little bit strange because it is too short. I remember when I was in school in Brazil, many teachers and classmates were curious about the meaning of my surname, but even I had no idea about it. They thought I was abbreviating to make it easier to understand. I do not have much knowledge about my name and his meaning, because it was something that I had no interest to know. However, the only thing that I know it was not a name which was chose by my parents or a family member, but it was chosen by my parent’s friend. Probably my parents did not know  what kind of name they should choose for me, and I believe their friend used my brother’s name as a reference, because both of our names start with J and it could help or maybe he got that idea from a friend. Sometimes, my name sounds a little bit strange for me. If I could, I would change it. It does not mean that I do not like, but I would like that my first name was in Chinese as well. In my family, nobody has that name and there is no history behind it. I had no idea about the meaning of my name until the moment that I found a research page which says the meaning of each name, and according to that information, my name means young and full of youth, and I can relate to that.

My Name: "Silvana Graciela"

Silvana Mirto
September 16, 2016

My Name

“Silvana Graciela”

     A long time ago, my parents were expecting a baby.  During those days, they made an agreement about the name depending on the baby’s sex.  The baby was me, a baby girl.  For that reason, my mother chose my names which are Silvana Graciela.  Both are Latin names, and very common in Argentina where I am from. 

     My first name means ‘God of trees and forests’, but my mother likes this name because of the sound of the letters and for a popular singer at that time, Silvana Di Lorenzo.  Something funny is that my mother has never called me Silvana; she calls me Silvi.  Most of my friends and family call me Sil, which is obviously short for Silvana.

     My second name is special because it’s in honor of my grandmother, my mother’s mother.  Just one time in my life I was called Graciela.  I was in Kindergarten when my teacher decided to call me Graciela because there was another student named Silvana.  Nowadays, I use Grace, similar version of Graciela in English, when I have to reserve a table in a restaurant, when somebody asks my name in the fitting room, or when I order a Starbucks’coffee.  It’s easier just say Grace instead of Silvana because everybody knows how to spell it.  Also, I love the meaning of my second name; ‘God’s favor’.