My Name

Steeped in my Germanic origins, my name carries a mixture of my father’s ancestry and my mother’s heartfelt intuition. Hudson draws on the German word “hug,” which means heart, mind, and spirit; a symbol of strength, endowing a profound identity that I embody today. Now, as the story goes, I was originally slated to be named Logan, a Gaelic name meaning “little hollow.” However, fate had something else in mind. Just days before my birth, my mother dreamt about telling the doctors that my name was Hudson. It seems a mother’s instinct is always true, as ‘she knew she made the right choice’ when I weighed in at a robust 10 lbs. 9 oz., physically embodying the strength in my name, solidifying her intuition. No matter the reason, my name is somewhat unique to my birth year, 2005, having only barely broken through the 1000 most popular names just 10 years prior. I’ve come to appreciate that obscurity as Hudson seems to resonate with me perfectly like a lock with exactly only one key. I can’t exactly put a finger on it, and neither can my friends, but as they say, ‘Hudson just fits.’ Maybe it’s my heart, mind, and spirit. Maybe it’s another reason. Whatever the case, I will always gladly represent my name. When I was a child, I carried a sense of superficial pride, because when someone said my name, I knew it was about me. Now, the tides have changed. Hudson has now exponentially grown to become the 27th most popular name today, exploding in popularity. Today, I know a few boys named Hudson, and I even gave one of them hand-me-downs: my elementary backpack and lunchbox with “HUDSON” stitched onto the front, something I never thought I’d be able to do. I’d like to think we're all connected in some way, some thread that binds us all together. Perhaps they resonate the same heart that my mother says she saw in my eyes as a child. Although the uniqueness I felt as a child may be gone, I don’t mind the waning specialty of my name. Instead, I’m happy that more people are linked to and can embody the same values I do. My only hope is that soon I will be able to buy a mug with my name on it from the M Den.