Kaitlyn

Connected by Names

By Kaitlyn Ko

“Birthed during the bandwagon era,” my friend told me as we looked up the popularity of our names over the years. The graph showed a huge surge in the name Kaitlyn in the early 2000s, exactly when I was born (“Kaitlyn”). In fact, among the many different spellings for the phonetic name Kaitlyn, my spelling particularly grew in popularity at that time. However, this isn’t the only trend my parents followed when they named me. 

My three cousins before me all have the initials KK, so naturally my parents followed suit for me and my younger brother. In Taiwan, where “Families are also perceived to have a collective identity and reputation,” even the small act of shared initials is a testament to the unity and tradition of Taiwanese family culture (Scroope and Evason). Growing up with this emphasis on community, I love having a connection to my extended family through the first thing people learn about me: my name. 


Kaitlyn, which represents the first K in my initials KK, was given to me because of its meaning, “pure” (Meehan). My parents chose it because of the  biblical verse Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” In my day to day life, purity translates to being genuine. From its Greek origin, Kaitlyn is characterized by being feminine, positive, and ambitious (Meehan). Even though my parents did join the bandwagon on my name, it feels like the perfect fit, encompassing many of my major personality traits. 


Funny enough, I had never met a Kaitlyn with the same spelling until I came to Michigan. One of my best friends here is also named Kaitlyn, and it was the connection of having the same name that first drew us together. In order to differentiate us, our friends refer to us by nicknames: for her, CheeChee; for me, Koko. Koko is now just one of many nicknames I’ve grown to appreciate over the years, including KaKo, Kait, and Katie Kat. So despite being one of 165,273 Kaitlyn’s in the United States (“Kaitlyn”), I always feel unique with each of my names from my family, friends, and even coworkers. 

Citations

The Bible. Matthew, Printed by Fay & Davison, 1978.

“Kaitlyn.” Baby Name Popularity Statistics | Everything Birthday, www.everything-birthday.com/name/f/kaitlyn.  

Meehan, Alison. “Kaitlyn.” The Bump, 6 July 2023, www.thebump.com/b/kaitlyn-baby-name. 

Scroope, Chara and Evason, Nina. “Chinese Culture - Family.” Cultural Atlas, 2017, https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/chinese-culture/chinese-culture-family.