聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Names are a pretty funny thing. They鈥檙e how we label ourselves and the world around us without relying on long and complicated descriptors, such as 鈥渢he guy with the weird nose鈥� or 鈥渢he dog with the fluffy coat鈥� no, not that one鈥� not that one, it has rabies鈥� that one.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I鈥檝e always been interested in the meanings of names. My middle name, Breanne, is the only name that seems to have a clear meaning that can be found in those treasure troves that are baby name books, but at least I know it鈥檚 a name of Irish origin meaning 鈥榮trong.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 My first name, Schayla, is not supposed to be spelled that way. When I talk to my parents about how they decided what to name me, they mentioned that they enjoyed the name 鈥楽hayla,鈥� but they decided to add another letter to it so I would have a guideline to learn how to spell my last name, Kirschman. That means that my name is just developed from the Gaelic name meaning 鈥榝rom the fairy palace.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Meanwhile, my last name doesn鈥檛 exactly have a meaning, but 鈥榤an鈥� is in there, and I learned from my father that 鈥榢irsch鈥� is a German word for 鈥榗herry.鈥� If we put that all together, it means that my name means something like 鈥榮trong cherry man from the fairy palace.鈥� I have no idea what this means, but it invokes images of a buff lumberjack with fairy wings, and I think that鈥檚 incredibly cool.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 My sister, meanwhile, has always felt that her name is not nearly as interesting as mine. Her full name is Sarah Reanne Kirschman, and she鈥檚 always felt that she was cheated when it comes to a thoughtful name, as nearly everyone she meets is named Sarah and her middle name just rhymes with that of her older sister.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I鈥檇 like to respectfully disagree. Sarah, of course, is the Hebrew word for 鈥榩rincess,鈥� while Reanne is actually a Welsh name meaning 鈥榞reat queen鈥� or 鈥榞oddess.鈥� So not only is my sister a princess, but she鈥檚 all kinds of royalty and she may be on the level of Artemis or Aphrodite. And she鈥檚 still a 鈥榗herry man!鈥� She鈥檚 just breaking down all kinds of gender stereotypes. Lumberjacks can be goddesses now.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 While I鈥檝e always enjoyed my real name, nicknames can be a little awkward. When I was in school, a guy who constantly teased me (and yes, as I found out later, guys do follow the clich茅 and tease you if they like you instead of, you know, actually doing something sensible and talking kindly to a girl like a human 小蓝视频) gave me the nickname 鈥榮hillelagh,鈥� which is a word pronounced 鈥榮h-lay-lay.鈥� It鈥檚 the Irish word for a fighting stick, and he thought it would suit me. I don鈥檛 know what to make of this. It鈥檚 not like I鈥檓 a terribly violent person. If I was actually handed a shillelagh, the most I could do is give someone鈥檚 knee a bruise. And I still definitely lean on the 鈥榝light鈥� side of the fight or flight response to stress.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I actually do use a nickname fairly often, though, and it鈥檚 just a shortened version of a username I use for pretty much any website. Some people I have met online instead of in person refer to me by it, and after a while I just got used to 小蓝视频 called it. So used to it, in fact, that I sometimes have to stop myself and remind myself not to introduce myself in real life with a nickname that just loudly proclaims my nerd status.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 A thing I鈥檝e noticed while starting my work as a reporter is that I have a flaw that is even more challenging when I work for a newspaper: I am absolutely terrible at names. I know faces no problem. I can look at people and I know that I know them. I probably even remember how we first met (likely some sort of event at a school or auditorium) and how I handled the interaction (awkwardly, obviously). I just can鈥檛 for the life of me remember the name of the person I remember so vividly.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Sometimes when I run into someone I know at an event, when I鈥檓 getting information from a group and I鈥檓 confirming name spellings, that person will say 鈥淎nd of course you already have my name!鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It takes a lot of effort for me to say 鈥淥h, of course!鈥� and not run screaming from the entire situation. If I did that, I鈥檇 just have to add an extra 鈥榯ime I was awkward鈥� to the list of encounters I鈥檝e had with the person.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Thankfully, the longer I spend doing this, the more I run into familiar people and the more confidently I can say that yes, I actually do know your name. In the meantime, persistence is key. Persistence and maybe just a written list of everyone I ever meet in this town.
