The Nomenclature of the Wild: What is Your Name

[Dr. Talbot]

What is your first name, your last name (middle name)? And why? Due by class time on Thursday. Have fun "finding yourself."

[Tina]

My name is Skye Granger. The name comes from my fictional alter ego who has appeared in any story that I've ever written, one way or another. I chose "Skye" because I've always lived by the phrase "sky's the limit." And I figured if I made my name "Skye," it will remind me to always aim higher in anything that I do. It's a bit cheesy I know, but it helps.

[Caroline]

My name is Amelia Cascade Murphy. Amelia for Amelia Earhart, the most adventurous woman ever, like Chris McCandlesss but in a plane. Cascade, because it's the first mountain I ever hiked in the ADK's. I keep the same last name, because I'm adopted and that is the name of my real family. My mom and dad had the courage to give their love and hope to me. I wouldn't change it, ever.

[Kelsey]

My name is Alta Seagram Harvey. "Alta" means "high" or "elevated"--I love the feeling of looking over the world in an airplane and experiencing the view from the summit of a mountain. "Seagram", because Seagram's was my grandfather's favorite type of gin. He was my only grandparent that I never had the chance to meet--his absence is a part of me that will always ache, for reasons I don't know. Lastly, "Harvey", because the poet Matthea Harvey is one of my biggest inspirations.

[Lauren]

My name is Grace Chandler Griffin. Grace is the name of my Nana who has unrelenting faith and shines the light of God on everyone she meets. I want to shine the same light she does on the people I meet in life-- especially on children. Chandler is my middle name now. The reason I wouldn't change this is because it is a family name. I love my family and always want a connection to them; a connection to those who have loved through the generations to bring me into this world and to those who have loved me ever since. I choose the last name Griffin because it is the last name of my third grade teacher. Ms. Griffin is the teacher who inspired me to want to become an elementary education teacher.

[Mallory]

Okay, I have so many names picked out for my future children (that is if I have any)- and I love them all, but they are not the names that I would pick for myself! So I have been thinking of my new name a lot over the past few days and I think I finally have one that I like. I never thought this would be so hard!
My name would be Honora Sun...
The first name is from a conversation I had with a professor the other day who mentioned this name of a character in a story she was sharing with her class. The name stuck out from our conversation, and I could not forget it. I like the way it stood out in my mind; bold, strong, solid. I don't think anybody could ever forget it.
As for the last name, I took the last part of my last name Garret"son", and changed the son to sun. I am a child of the sun, I just cannot not be outside on a sunny day. The sun plays a huge role in who I am, and she is more than a mother to me. She is my happiness, my soul, my smile. How could I not represent her within my name?

[Alix]

I started taking karate when I was 7 years old and fell in love. My first name is a tribute to Ed Parker, the founder of American Kenpo Karate, and to my high school, Park School, a progressive "hippie" school in the middle of the woods in Brooklandville, MD. We had class outside, called our teachers by their first names, and wassail at Christmastime at a school-wide assembly. I was head of the beekeeping club at Park, which inspired my last name. Thanks for reading.

- Parker Bee.

[edit]: I've given it some thought and I think I've changed my mind. My pseudonym is Sasha Parker Bell. I chose Parker for the same reasons as above, but for the first few years of my life I went by Sasha, reflecting my Russian roots, and very few people remember me as Sasha. Bell is an allusion to my favorite criminal, Russell "Stringer" Bell, a heroin dealer/business owner from my hometown on the show The Wire.

[Maggie]

Sorry if this is cheating, but my name would be Margaret Downey. My real name is actually Margaret Downey Sullivan, but I go by Maggie and hardly anyone knows my middle name. "Downey" is a distant family name...I think it's my mom's great aunt's maiden name...?? I'm not entirely sure. I have never felt too much of a connection to the name while paired with "Maggie." Maggie Downey?! That sounds silly.

Last semester in Creative Nonfiction Writing, Dr. Talbot gave me the idea of having a penname for submitting my writing to a literary magazine. I chose "Margaret Downey" because it already IS my name, except it sounds more like a writer and less like the "Maggie Sullivan" that I have spent my whole life being.

I have always been a writer, as far back as I can remember. I have always found a certain joy in moving a pen across a piece of paper, even if I'm not even writing real words or sentences. If I were to ever "escape" or conceal my identity, I would not want to lose my entire name because I've spent my whole life with it. It's mine. And now especially since "Margaret Downey" sounds so much like the writer that I am and always have been, I see no sense in finding a different name if I were to escape reality for a while.

[[deleted user]]

Leahi Fearless Horizon

Leahi: My Mom, Sister and I have climbed Leahi, also known as Diamond Head State Monument, in Oahu. It’s a crater that visitors can hike and when you get to the top you have a beautiful view of Waikiki and Oahu's south shore. It was a highly adventurous experience that I was able to share with my family.
Fearless: Sometimes I feel restrained from fear and the “unknown.” The idea of being fearless is a label I would like to acquire although I haven’t yet.
Horizon: I feel most at peace with myself and my life when I’m at the ocean during the summer. My family goes to Cape Cod in July I love floating on a boogie board or an inner tube and just watch the horizon. It looks endless, like I could paddle out and never stop.

[Brianne]

My name is Anastasia Laurette Firestorm. I choose Anastasia because that’s what my dad wanted to name me for the longest time before I was born, but my mom would never agree to it because she isn’t fond of the name. It’s something we always joke about, and I’ve always wondered what kind of person I’d be if I had been named Anastasia instead of Brianne. Laurette is actually my middle name now and I wanted to keep it because it’s the name of my grandmother who I never got to meet. Apparently she was this fearless little French woman just over five feet tall who was an amazing mother, grandmother, and friend. I hear stories about her and always feel like I was cheated out of meeting a truly unforgettable lady. Firestorm refers to my red hair because I couldn’t resist making a reference to it in my name. A lot of people I know who have red hair say they either hate it or have hated it at one point, but I can honestly say I’ve never felt this way. It’s something different about myself I’ve always loved because it matches the spunky personality I have as a result of growing up with two older brothers.

[Cassia]

Cassia Bingo Twain is my chosen name.

Cassia, because I respect that choice of my mother and father, and appreciate it's uniqueness. It represents family and independence. Bingo, because my parents had asked my brother (4 years older) what he thought they should name me when I was born. His answer: Hunga if it's a boy, Bingo if a girl, thus my nickname until I was seven. This represents humor and spontaneity. Finally, I chose Twain, obviously representing Mark, who I believe is one of the most influential and powerful writers of history. Not only do I admire his words, but also his courage to write about something so controversial as slavery in his time. He represents strength, courage, determination, and success.

[Ali]

My name is Ruby Tuesday.

I thought a lot about what I wanted my name to be, but I would've ended up with a name a mile long if I tried to put every important aspect of my life into it (as I kept trying to do). So my name is Ruby Tuesday. I got this from the Rolling Stones song, and the restaurant chain is just an unfortunate connection. Music is something that has always been an influence throughout my life in various forms, and I wanted to pick a name that reflected that. Penny Lane was close, and while I do like the Beatles I like the Stones a lot more. Also, Ruby Tuesday is one of my all-time favorite songs. I distinctly remember the first time I heard it on the radio; it came on at just the right time and for some reason it made me cry.
And then I thought about playing around with the name, since yellow is my favorite color instead of ruby red, and I've always thought of Tuesday as kind of a bummer of a day, but it got too convoluted so I just stuck with the original. Ruby Tuesday it is.

[Meghan]

Kathleen Ann Seulette

I chose the first name of my maternal grandmother, whom I never knew. My mom reasons that I never met her because I became her, a reincarnation in nearly the fullest form. She was my mother’s closest friend, as my mother and I are. My mom always tells me how I replaced the void of her mother in a sense, for our personalities have an uncanny resemblance. Also, Kathleen means pure, and I like to think of myself as a pure young woman who does not feel the need to obtain the fake characteristics of our modern society. It only feels right to take the name of the person I became, yet always wished I knew.

For my middle name, I chose to hold true to my real identity. In my family, there is an "Ann Ring" which is a single diamond set on a gold band. It is simple and elegant, just as the name Ann is itself. The ring has been passed down through generations to the next female whose name is in part, Ann. It is only right that I continue the tradition. I would not choose to forgo that connection to my family.

Finally, I chose the last name of Seulette. Directly translated, it means "all alone". I suppose that would be fitting for a new identity, however that is not my reason for choosing it. Initially I wanted part of my name to be French, for I learned the language for six years and have always been in love with the country, its art, and its culture. I chose Seulette for it represents being independent, a quality I have always valued and held throughout my life.

[Amy]

My chosen name is 姚晔燕子. (I hope the Chinese characters are visible here!)

Chinese written as pinyin (the system of using English letters to spell out the sounds of Chinese characters) doesn't do the name justice, but it would be pronounced as "Yao Ye Yanzi".

姚晔 ("Yao Ye") is my legal name because I was born in China. In China, when addressing someone, you say their last name before their first name. I think that custom is borne out of centuries of filial duties and honoring one's family, and I couldn't be happier to pay homage to my family and culture by sticking by my given name. My first name, 晔 ("Ye"), means "bright light", and I've always loved it, especially as I hope to be a role model for my siblings, and one day join Doctors Without Borders as an OB-GYN and provide medical care to impoverished people.

I chose to keep my last name, 姚, not because it means "good-looking" (although it's a nice touch), but because it connects me to my dad's family. They live in the Chinese countryside and are simply the most hardworking, compassionate, and genuine people I've ever met. I've only gotten to see them once in my life since immigrating to America, but just the thought of my wonderful paternal grandmother is enough to get me through the day.

The last part of my name, 燕子 (Yanzi), literally means "little sparrow", which is what my maternal grandparents nicknamed me when I was living with them in the Chinese city of Xi'an (it's customary in China for young couples with children to leave the kids with grandparents and pursue careers, though my mom ended up spending almost all of her salary on train trips to see me every weekend). It was my nickname because it sounds similar to "Yezi" (a diminutive form of Ye, my given name), and because "Yanzi" was the name of a popular children's song. I love how the sparrow represents hard work and resilience embodied in a small being, because being five foot one is a big (haha) part of my personality.

[John]

My name would be Jack Muir Yaz. One of my little cousins name is Jack, and he is the most curious little kid for eight years old that I have known. I love to watch him marvel at how something works and then trying to learn all about it, as if most of his movements are driven by his curiosity, something that I strongly admire. Muir comes from the naturalist, John Muir, whose safe haven was the natural world. He was Scottish, like my family, and was apparently most comfortable out amongst the world untouched by humanity. Yaz is my grandfathers nickname from his last name, Yasinksky. He grew up in Canada and is one of the most knowledgeable and humorous gentlemen I have been lucky enough to know. Our relationship has grown much stronger over the past couple of years, and I strive to acquire his sense of humor, as well as his seemingly endless sense of tranquility. I have always thought of him as "weathered" in the best of ways, always able to conjure up a funny story from his many experiences across the world.

[Skdank09]

So I'm probably copping out here, but after thinking for the last five days or so about what my name would be I decided to stick with Sally Kanellis, which is in fact my current first and middle name. I decided to go with this and have no last name. I feel like at this point in my life there is nothing I am certain of except what is happening in the next three months. I'm not sure what I'm doing this summer or where I'm going to live. I'm not sure what I want to be when I "grow-up" or where I want to settle down. I am not sure if I am still going to want to get married and have kids or how my identity will be shaped. I'm not even sure what my last name will be (under the assumption that I will most likely decide to take the name of whoever I marry). All I know is that five years, twenty years, fifty years from now, my name will still be Sally Kanellis and somehow that is really reassuring for me. Sally is a great name for a little girl or an old lady and it rhymes with a bunch of other words and even though you don't actually meet Sallys that often there are a ton of songs with the name in it. I spent a couple years trying to grasp the fact that Sally was actually my name and having come to terms with it, it seems almost a waste to pick a new name.

[James]

I am going to give a breif history of my family just to give some background on why I am choosing to stick with my name Roland James Augustine. My great grandfather on my dad's side came to this country many years ago from Italy. His name was Rolando Austini Augustini and upon arrival at Elles Island his the name was "americanized" and his name became Roland Austin Augustine. My great grandfather had a son and passed the name down and my grandfather was named Roland Thomas Augustine. When he had a son he named him Roland Joseph Augustine, currently my father's name. My father gave me the name Roland James Augustine and I aspire to have a son who will proudly represent the Augustine family with the first name Roland. It is not just a name. It is blood, sweat, and tears; it is hours, days, weeks, months, and years of tedious and hard work. It is a legacy and I a proud of it. My name is Roland James Augustine!