Elizabeth M

From Nickname Envy to Namesake Pride

My name haunts me. But not in the way you may think. In elementary school, whenever someone would ask my name, and I replied “Elizabeth,” they would ask every time: “And you go by that? No Nickname?” and it would drive me insane. I envied my friends with cute, easy names: Ava, Sarah, Kate, Emily. Their names were just so much more digestible than mine.  

 While my name isn’t rare, as it is the 15th most popular name today, and 10th for my birth year, I used to find it offputting (“Popular”). Nine letters were double the amount of all of my friends' names. To me, it sounded way too proper and formal. I used to beg my mom to call me something shorter: Liz, Lizzy, Eliza, Elle, E. But it was no use. She would not budge.

I finally asked her, besides the fact that she liked the sound of “Elizabeth,” if there was any other significance to her name choice. She said that her best friend since high school, Elizabeth, embodies beauty, charm, intelligence, and wit, and she wanted to honor her name. 

When she gave me this insight, going on tangents about her friend and all of their hilarious stories together, I grew a fondness for the name Elizabeth that I did not have before. I now felt like I understood her as an individual and how much good she has contributed to my mother’s life. During my mother’s few funny stories she told about Elizabeth, I found myself starting to find the name kind of pretty when I heard it referring to someone else. So, from that moment, even though I desperately wanted a cute nickname like all my friends, I decided not to necessarily hate my name anymore. I wanted to respect my mother’s wishes to keep my long, full name, and after the conversation, I stopped giving it much thought 

Now, at 20 years old, I have pivoted my view completely. I have grown to love my name and its fullness. I now think that it's unique that you cannot say my name in less than four syllables, rather than one. I have also recently learned about the origins and meanings of “Elizabeth,” which has led me to value it even more. Originating in England, Elizabeth has been known to historically mean “gift of god,” and has many royal and godly connotations (“Popular”). Similarly, in other historical religions, such as Hebrew, “Elizabeth” means “God’s promise or oath of God” (“Elizabeth”). I now recognize that having a name like Elizabeth connects me to a history of faith and tradition, which I can appreciate for its significance to the world. Being named Elizabeth is also a source of inspiration, from the remarkable women who have carried that name throughout history. I now choose to honor not only my mother’s reasoning for choosing my name but its historical roots as well, which has made me feel more proud of who I am as a person. 













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