(Don’t share your real name, obviously)
Okay so, wall of text warning:
My legal name is a Chinese name, three characters.
Family name (one character) is said/written first, then the given name (two characters for me… and I assume for most people).
Its a very interesting name, and overall naming system, each character has meaning, well other than the family name which I don’t think it really means anything.
My older brother’s first character is the same as mine, only the second character is different. (It’s [Family Name] + [Character A] + [Character B], Character A is the same.)
I have never met anyone with my exact name, well to be fair, being in the US made those odds even rarer. I did meet someone with the same family name in a US school, and they also had the same DoB as me, which was very weird coincidence.
But my name is so rare in the US, if it ever got leaked, that’s practically a unique identifier.
When I look at my name, idk I kinda feel a sense of antiquity. I have a genology book and the pages are falling apart, I had to scan it and made a .pdf from it. I mean those names are from hundred of years ago, I guess they had to keep remaking/rewriting those books because I doubt something from pre-1800s would’ve survived till now. It makes modern tech feel so futuristic when I think about it, I mean, that geneology book could potentially live om forever, without any deterioation unlike a book.
But simultaneously, when I look at my name, it kinda reminds me of my parent’s emotional abusive and neglectful behaviors. Ugh, idk, feels so conflicted about it. I really wanna ask questions about the past, but we aren’t really on speaking-terms anymore.
When people ask my name, it’s always just so awkward, since… the pronounciation is totally foreign to them. I kinda wanted to choose an English name for simplicity here in the US, but like… I didn’t pick one when I was younger and I think its kinda too late to use one now. Idk what name to even choose.
I have a very common English first name. Biblical name. I’ve met plenty of people with the same name.
Family name is one of many variations of a last name I don’t know how common it is in general. Looked it up and apparently it’s an Americanized variant and apparently rare Swedish variant of a Swedish last name that’s a patronymic from a personal name. Not gonna say what name because it could give away the spelling.
I’ve never been to Sweden, nor do I really consider myself having much of any European roots in general outside of ancestors having lived there and probably living there now, but I am not about to be the person to say that makes me anywhere near European when I’ve lived in North America my whole life. I cannot say I have any connections or traditions that may go on in wherever any family I may have over there that my family practices since our family has probably been here many generations.
Closest connection would be an old family Bible. It’s big and I’m pretty sure it’s written in German if I remember correctly. Currently in my dad’s possession. Family heirloom, I guess.
I can tell you that knowing where my ancestors have come from did inspire the name for my fursona ( last name Hemming ), but that’s minor influence since I picked the name because I like how it sounds and because Earnest Hemingway ( haven’t read his stuff, so don’t count me as an intellectual in that way ).