In class, we were asked
to do a short writing on our name – ‘How do you feel about your name?’ I must
admit, my relationship with my name is a complicated one, a “love-hate”
relationship. On the love side of the metaphorical boxing ring, we have the
uniqueness of “Jared.” I am happy to say that I have never met another Jared in
my life. That means that I never have had the need to have a nickname, or go by
my last name or initial. It may be simple, but it is something that I have
always valued – the ability to be the only Jared in the room. When it comes to
celebrities named Jared, there aren’t many – Jared Leto is one of the few that
comes to mind. That means that I never have to deal with any jokes about my
relation to a well-known figure, as I’m sure people with names such as “Harry”
(Potter, Styles take your pick) have to.
However, outweighing the
pros, we have the con on the other side of the ring. The reason why I hate my
name, is simply because I can’t pronounce it. I have been cursed with a speech
impediment, which despite my best efforts, I have been unable to cure. The
letter R is the bane of my existence, words such as girl, soccer, and indeed,
Jared, have always been the death of me. Whenever introducing myself to someone,
I have to brace myself, because I’ll always have to repeat my name many times,
as I am questioned: “Jay? Jed? What?” On average, it takes 3 tries for them to
get it right, or I’ll just give up and let my name be whatever that my new acquaintance
decides. For a year or two of my middle school life, I tried speech therapy. I
gave it my best shot, but it was useless; I just couldn’t and still can’t make
my tongue curl to push out that perfect “R” sound, and I am instead stuck with
a disappointing “W,” and along with that, my name has become Jawed.
So I answer the question: Do I like my name? Yes. I
love it! It’s original and it means a lot to me. I just hate saying it!
I thought that this was really fun to read. I love that you have accepted your own name and speech impediment. I myself always run into problems with people not pronouncing my name right, but no one's perfect and you have to accept it. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree (I don't know if you read my post but it was about a very similar topic), the uniqueness of a name is actually really appealing to me (and apparently to you) and I think we share that love of being the only person with that name in the vicinity. Although when I think of Jared I don't think of it as that uncommon, you brought up some good points that may suggest otherwise.
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ReplyDeleteI can definitely see why having a unique name would be desirable. Throughout high school I had a classmate named Kevin, and then when I went to middle school, I had two classmates named Kevin. Consequentially, I had the nickname "G-Money" for 6 years of my life. At least Uni doesn't have any other Kevins. I think that your post was very enjoyable to read, and I especially liked your metaphor of the Pros and Cons in a boxing ring.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Isandro that I've never thought of Jared as an uncomon name before, but now that I think of it you're the only Jared I know. I think of my name as uncommon, but I do know another Julian. According to Baby Name Wizard it's the 45th most popular boy's name in the U.S. compared to Jared being the 340th most popular.
ReplyDeleteI also empathize with your difficulty in pronouncing R's. Although I don't have trouble with them in English, in Norwegian I struggle with them. Many Norwegian words have a rolling R, which I cannot for the life of me get a hang of. When I lived in Norway many of my peers made fun of me (lightheartedly) for my 'funny' way of saying them. This inability also made Spanish class harder, as it has its fair share of rolling R's as well.
I understand why you enjoy having a unique name. There are three different people named Alex in my class, and at every school I have gone to there was at least one Alex in my class. When I was much younger, people called me S-L to differentiate me from other Alex's around me, which I didn't like at all. It's cool that you like your name!
ReplyDeleteI find it very inspiring that you have accepted your name despite the initial difficulty you had with pronouncing it. Personally I did not notice that you could not properly pronounce your R's, It caught me off guard when you told me this for the first time. I also relate to the uniqueness of your name, just like you I have always been the only Jan in my class/school. But I have yet to fully value the ability to be the only Jan in the room.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a very unique twist on the topic of liking or disliking your name. I also didn't realize that Jared was such an uncommon name, but now that I think about it, I don't think I have met another Jared before. Good post!
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