I want to talk about the difficulty people have with saying my name. This story has popped up in my head while reading the last two seminar books. I didn’t bring it up during seminar because it isn’t on the same level as an immigrant “Americanizing” their name under pressure.

I don’t really remember all the times as a kid when people would ask me how to say my name. My mom probably fielded those questions before I was old enough. However, I remember the first time when I was nine years old. I was living in Iowa at the time and would visit my Aunt during the summer for church events. An hour before heading to church, my Aunt and Uncle were sitting in the living room with me just chatting about anything. I was playing with the cat when my Aunt had stumbled over my name at least three times in a row. Her face became slightly pink and she demanded that I give myself a nickname.

I never really had a need for a nickname before then. My mom and I were just fine with my sign name, which was tapping an “E” against the right cheek. I visualized my name in the air before me and tried to see it hacked in half. What name sounds like those girls at school? E-L-I. I slowly said it out loud to my relatives and my Aunt nodded. She said that one sounded just right. I was excited. I felt like I was in some secret club with a secret name.

When arriving at my Aunt’s church, I stood next to the table as she signed me in for the children’s bible study. Under the name, she wrote, “Ellie.” I protested, saying she put down my new name wrong. She shushed me and stuck the name tag on my shirt. I was angry for a while that day. Later that year, a friend of mine also had the name, “Ellie,” and she was a sweet little thing. I thought to myself, “Well, I’m cute. I’m fine with my nickname having a fake extra ‘L.'” I’ve used that nickname ever since.  However, it is really sweet when someone takes the time to use my first name.

Common name mistakes: Elizabeth (no idea how, since there is no B or H in my name), Elizeet (commonly said by grade school teachers), and Elizeate.