What Is Your Name?
I was thinking about names the other day like many of us do occasionally. What am I going to name my kids? Maybe this or maybe that.. no, no, definitely that. I’m sure.
But I decided I shouldn’t decide! Names are important. It is a huge part of our identity that we cannot change: it is with us even while lying underneath our tombstones. [Unless you had horrible parents who named you 6ag3a (fart), Gafsha (spoon), Zbala (garbage), Goo6i (box), etc.]
I want my kids to be named the name that comes to them, not the name I chose before they even existed! Take my cousin for example. She was going through some rough times in her life around the time she got pregnant. But when the baby finally came, she felt as if all those things didn’t matter. They were very trivial compared to this new life she helped make. That was Salwa, and she was her solace.
My name is Hoda. Although I don’t think the meaning of the name was much of a factor in my naming process, I think my naming story is the funniest I’ve heard. When I was born, my parents had decided on naming me Dalal. However, no one informed my grandmother in Egypt of this so when a phone call confirming my arrival was made, she declared that I would be named after her. Neither of my parents wanted to be the one to tell her that I already had a name so I was renamed to Hoda. That’s a great story and I love telling it.
Notice how my name is spelled in English with an Egyptian pronunciation (letter O). Before I had to do my official government papers and got my high school diploma, I thought about having my name spelled with a U to make it sound Kuwaiti when read in English. But I decided not to. Although it annoyed me a lot at school (and now still) when the teachers would call me ‘HO-DA’ even after telling them it’s actually ‘HOO-DA’ or ‘HU-DA.’ My mom probably spelled it out that way in the hospital and I’m proud my name has a rich flavor of Egyptian essence thanks to the story and the pronunciation in English.
My kids will have a story to their name. I know it.
October 15th, 2007 at 11:42 pm
I too sufferd becuase of my first name …. had to change it when i was in highschool ! thank God !
October 16th, 2007 at 1:21 am
LOL no i wouldnt go as far as saying i ’suffered!’ haha..
but what was terrible about ur name? what was it and what is it now??
October 16th, 2007 at 2:12 am
3ashat il asaami ;p
Funny story haha
Well my name doesn’t have a story, BUT its like my personality as my mother says, I don’t see much similarities but I guess you can’t really change your name.
October 16th, 2007 at 3:59 am
They were ganna call me Alia becuase my older brother was Ali
But there was a long story that is not as cute as your story where my mom decided to name me Laila because it was close to my grandmamas name “Lila”
October 16th, 2007 at 9:46 am
i had a girls name as my first name ….
October 16th, 2007 at 11:23 am
Blue Dress, thanks!
but what IS your name?
Laialy, wow all 4 names have the same 3 letters.. also, i like Lila.. never heard of it before..
GreY, oh my God
… well then im glad u changed it!
October 16th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
hehehehe i love my name, which is Sarah (if that isn’t obvious LOL), it’s universal and I can derive alot of nicknames from it (the good AND the bad… aka Swair as apposed to Swaira Om EL Fal
October 17th, 2007 at 12:48 am
Sarah? laaaaaaaaaaa? 7elfay?? ;P lolz at swaira om il fal teehee