Growing up, I absolutely despised my name. All the popular kids at my school had popular names like Jake or Tyler. Because I was so concerned about popularity and being “cool”, as many young kids often are, I yearned for a somewhat well-known name. Unfortunately, that would never happen. At the age of 19, I’m still stuck with the name “Wade”, though I’m not quite as upset about it as I was ten years ago.

Today, the name Wade is the 346th most popular name in the United States, which certainly isn’t popular, but is much more popular than it was back in 2009 when the name Wade was ranked as the 620th most popular name, roughly half as high as the name is ranked today (OACT). Though I’m unsure of the cause of this increase in popularity, maybe the rise of celebrities like Dwayne Wade could be involved.

I was not originally supposed to be named Wade, at least, according to my parents. In fact, I was supposed to be named Max for the entirety of my pregnancy. However, in the few days before my birth, my mother had supposedly seen the name Wade in one of the local newspapers and, based on that, decided to change my name to Wade. Because of a newspaper, my parents gifted me, as they call it, with a slightly more unique name.

According to Merriam-Webster, the most common way my name is used in its verb form, which is either “waded” or “wading”, which refers to the act of moving through a resistive body of water (Merriam-Webster). This definition, when applied to real-life contexts, seems to align with the overall experiences I’ve dealt with throughout life. Recent events make life feel nearly exactly like the feeling of a wave pool - tumultuous and turbulent for long periods, and long stretches of calm and smooth waters where there appears to be little impending adversity. However, that adversity will be almost guaranteed to happen again. Jumping around colleges as I’ve done in the past several months has certainly resembled a wave pool and sometimes feels as if the wave pool is malfunctioning, where the waves become more intense than usual, more powerful than usual, and seemingly never-ending, ready to engulf me in its wake. Having now arrived at the University of Michigan, the waves have seemed to calm, and the water has noticeably smoothened.

Despite my name suggesting an ability to navigate through difficult times, I certainly have not lived up to the definition of my name through my actions. The definition clearly states that one actively traverses through a resistive body of water, much like a resistive or difficult period of one’s life. Although I’ve faced the figurative “resistive body of water”, I have yet to prove that I can smoothly traverse and navigate through such resistance. Going forward, one of my goals will be to live up to my name, by showing an ability to traverse through adverse and difficult situations.