.012 [my name's not baby...]

So today I was thinking about what I could possibly write for the in-class essay about names in Jamaica Kincaid's Lucy, and I was coming up with the most random connections possible. Most of them were complete BS, and there was no way I could turn them into an essay. In fact, I still have no idea what I will write about, although I have been tearing through the book for a few hours now...

As I was thinking about names in general, a friend of a friend who is in a band randomlyadded and messaged me on Facebook saying,

"So I hear I am not supposed to call you Emily?"

[nice one-liner, band guy]

I of course said "Yes," and when he asked why I said, "I don't know really...it's just not my name. Everyone always assumes that Emma is just short for Emily, like its the lesser version of the two, when in reality my name is better so......."

He agreed, so I think we can be friends ;]

Silly as it may seem, that simple question really got me thinking about why my name is so important to me. I mean, it's only four letters, it's pretty simple, and nowadays [thanks toFRIENDS and the Harry Potter movies] it is pretty common. I think, though, that a name is much more than just a few letters put together, or a way of identifying a person. I think, just like Hannah mentioned in her blog, that a name directly represents the person to whom it is given. If a person with one name is really annoying, then that name will forever have a negative connotation in my mind because I am reminded of the annoyance every time I hear it. It is guilty by association, I suppose. For instance, when I was little, I was bullied by a girl named Deleny; thus, every time I hear that name, I feel myself cringe. And although I have never met an Emily I don't like, I still have an aversion to the name because it is simply too much alike to mine. I wonder if this happens to other people? Like do girls named Beth hate it if people think their "real" name is Elizabeth? I have no idea, and it probably does not matter...

I like my name, and that's all there is to it. Just don't call me Emily.