Every introduction on the first day of class, while coffee runs all inside me, includes something along the lines of this: “Christiana?” they will say.
“No, ChristIAN,” I politely correct them.
“Oh, Kristen,” they will reply.
“No, CHRISTIAAAAN, you know, like the religion,” I say in frustration.
“Interesting name for a girl. So, Christian, are you Jewish?” They ask, as their mouths curve into a mischievous smile. As if I have not gotten that response since kindergarten – yes, kindergarten.
“Actually, no, I am a Satanist and I sacrifice goats for my religion. What about you, are you Jewish?” I say internally. Externally, it goes something like this, “I am not, and I do not practice Christianity either, if you were curious,” I say for the thousandth time.
I think the most recent and annoying experience was in my Politics and Religion class, where my teacher called me "Jewish" instead of my name, Christian. The whole class laughed, and I didn’t take offense to it because he is an amazing teacher and that’s his humor. However, it is a normal occurrence that I have to deal with, and people do not realize that my name stands for something other than a religion, or a boy name.
Names tell a story, and here is mine.
No, this is not an epic story of how it was my great-great-grandmothers from Italy who endured suffering trying to obtain the American Dream. This is a story about a beautiful woman, both inside and out, who was excited to have her second child. She is a woman who does not care what the rest of the world thinks, nor does she make judgments of others herself. She is creative and artistic, and she happens to be my mom. She knew her first child would be a girl but named her Taylor regardless – a unisex name, you could say. She thought about Raquel and other names, but she felt Taylor Rose sounded elegant. She went through the same process with her second daughter. It’s funny that she was graced with two loving daughters, since she had always been a “boy's” girl, with more guys than women as friends. Is that why she chose gender-friendly names? I don’t think so. I think it had more to do with her creative side and finding names that would paint beautiful pictures in her head.
So, her creative flow continued as her second girl was growing inside her. She said I was feisty and would not stop kicking; she knew I was strong, like her. She thought of names like Isabella, but Christian Nicole slipped off the tongue like honey.
Sometimes, my Mom asks me if I wish she had named me something different, and I think back to all of the “hey Chris, Kristen, Christ, Christiana” times and tell her no. She created that name, as she created me. It is special, and no matter how annoying it gets, I will always love it because it’s what makes me, me.
As for the name Isabella, my mom decided to bestow the cat with its elegance. Maybe the next animal will be named Raquel. Until then, it’s just Taylor Rose and Christian Nicole.
