There has been much ado about a person’s name of late. Those that are anti-Arabic and/or anti-Islamic believe, nay almost demand that people should change their name to a more suitable choice. The one thing that has not been taken into account is that the name was given to them by their parents. For whatever reason those names had some value for them.
I must say that I take great delight in checking the meaning of names. Especially, when I know the person more closely because I want to see how close the meaning of their name matches the person’s personality. Many times the names are extremely accurate. Kind of erie.
Now in my case my name is non-Arabic and/or non-Islamic. However, I will admit that I was not too fond of it as a child. To begin with my oldest cousin on my mother’s side was named Natalia too. Her mother was less than thrilled when my parents chose to name me Natalia. However, my parents stood their ground. They believed it was my destiny. For you see both of their mother’s were named Natalia. As I am first born the honor was bestowed upon me. Lucky me!
Now let us examine the meaning of my name which is Christmas child. I was born in February, talk about ironic. So, to me the only value of my name is that it belonged to my beloved grandmothers (may they rest in peace). Yes, they both were very happy to have me named Natalia. Especially, on my father’s side. She believed me to be a beautiful child. As my Father mentioned to me, she remembered me on her death bed.
As you can imagine, having two Natalia’s in the family caused great confusion to my cousin and I at first. It is how the many nicknames given to me began. I just learned to answer to whatever nickname, they chose for me. Well, so long as it was reasonable. My guy cousins could be rather ignorant at times as some young boys can be.
One thing that I had always wanted was to have a middle name. I always would play around with names to see how it would sound. Finally, I have found my favorite nickname which is Nadia. The meaning that I found was Hope. I like the sound of that. At first my family was taken aback by my choice but my mother is taking it very well. Actually, too well. She thinks that I should make it my first name. However, as I have gained wisdom, I have come to realize that I do cherish Natalia after all.
When it was time to name my sons, I decided that they would have a middle name. Actually, I have sort of a funny story about my sons names to tell. After I had Julio, his dad thought that he was to be named after his older brother. However, he was not around when they came to ask for the name. Hey! In my defense, I had a C-Section and I was very out of it. Julio is lucky he wasn’t named Broccoli. Hahaha Julio means July in English and he was born on the Fourth of July. Now, I am not sure what I was thinking when I selected his middle name. Imagine his father’s surprise when he found out Julio’s name. He had already told his family, friends and colleagues the other name.
Now, you would think that the man had learned, not to leave me alone after under going a C-Section before making sure his other son was officially named on the birth certificate again. Nope! Yes, I did it again! Now Arman’s middle name is in honor of my mother’s father. I am not sure why I chose Arman’s first name. By the way Arman is the nickname that I gave him. The way I see it, if he can call me “Chiquita” (little one) then I can call him Arman. :o) At least his dad waited to announce his name. I guess, he did sort of learn.
So, as you can see that just because we don’t like someone’s name, there is a reason behind it. Might not have been a logical one. However, at the time it seemed like a good idea to their parents. To this day my sons are very grateful that they have normal names and question there father’s logic in leaving a very sedated woman to select their names. :o)
