What’s in a Name?

Voichita

Vee-as-in-Victor-oh-i-see-eich-i-tee-as-in-Tom-ay

Nachescu

En-as-in-Nancy-ay-see-eich-ee-ess-see-as-in-Charlie-you

Strangely enough, they usually get it. By now, scores of overworked helpdesk workers, customer help representatives, operators, and office assistants have had to deal with this. I feel apologetic whenever I have to spell my name: my name is not that usual even in Romania after all. I dream of changing my name to something international and easy to spell, like Eva or Vera. These names are poetic in their own way, and they’re not spelling bee material.

But instead, I’m stuck with this: Vee-as-in-Victor-oh-i…

By the time I’m done, I feel like I’ve told them my whole life story. “See, it all begins in Romania, where in a small town in South West Transylvania my mother was trying to choose a name for her yet unborn baby, her first child, and wanted to match the uniqueness of her experience with the uniqueness of a name.” (I only know of two or three other Voichitas, all of them Romanian, of course.)

Because when I ask you, what’s your name? I ask many things. Ancient Romans believed that nomen est omen, that a name could predict the fate of its bearer. Let’s trust them for a moment, and say that names, all names, have a meaning and a history. But in this world, where within five minutes on the train to Penn Station, I see people whose ancestors lived on all continents, whose traditions encompass the history of the world, what meaning do their names have to me? Mine to them? What omens do we carry, unaware, for ourselves and each other?

Seoun Hyung Kim

Shawnkeisha Stoudamire

Vincenzo Mistretta

Taocho Wei

Sami Hanna

Tierney Malone

Charles Adair

Voichita Nachescu