What's In A Name

Last Friday, I received an SMS from someone working at the local Gaisano. I had gone grocery shopping there recently when the cashier urged me to get the savers card they had for frequent shoppers. I usually do my grocery shopping at the Savemore in Parkmall so technically, I'm not a Gaisano frequent shopper. The only reason we went there was because we didn't want to get stuck in traffic after work. We chose to do our groceries somewhere just a mere five minutes away from where we live. The cashier was very convincing, though, and she said that the points are convertible to cash. She added that, with the amount of grocery items I was buying, I shouldn't let the opportunity to earn points go to waste. I succumbed and the next thing I know I was filling out forms and signing stuff.

Okay, back to the SMS I got. It read: Good evening, ma'am. This is Eva from Gaisano Savers Mart and I would like to confirm the spelling of your name. Is it KRSTLL ANNE or KRISTELL ANNE? This is for your savers card.

I typed in my reply which read: Actually, it's KRST'LL ANNE. No vowels and with an apostrophe.

I didn't get a response. I hope Eva got that.

It's not the first time people got into a tizzy over my unusual name. Professors have a hard time saying and spelling it. My friends love it, my trainees want to steal it, and me? I'm just proud of it.

I'm proud that no one has the same name as I do. I love that it's unique - so unique that I don't get any hits when I get a clearance from the NBI. Despite having to spell it out to people constantly, having it is pretty hassle-free. The only time I had issues with it was when I took the Licensure Exam for Teachers (LET). Names had to be written in little boxes - one letter per box. I had to sheepishly ask the proctor if the apostrophe required a separate box. Apparently, it did.

My siblings also have names without vowels. My brother is Jhzryl and my sister is Lynnth - pronounced Lineth. She was supposed to get an apostrophe, too, as in Lynn'th, but our mom forgot. Our youngest brother is the only one with vowels in his first name: Francis. He was named after our dad.

I married someone with a beautiful name, too. Obviously, we needed to give our little one an equally exquisite name - something fraught with meaning and something she could be proud of, as well. I've never mentioned the Husband's and our daughter's names on this blog before. Well, here they are: The Husband is Cyrus William and our little girl is Kaelana Yasmine. Such breathtakingly wonderful names.

me with massive eye bags and my then-two-year-old

What are your favorite names?

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