Do You Know What Your Name Means? How’s That Working Out For You?

If I’m gonna tell a real story, I’m gonna start with my name.

One day, I was playing around in my dad’s room. I stumbled on my baptismal card. On the front cover, it read: Nkeonyezuruya Judith Ihunayachukwu Izuka. My first name means: the one I have is enough for me. If you want to replace all that with one word; contentment.

Curiosity got the best of me. I asked my dad why he gave me that name. “Your mum had a rough time with house servants. They never seemed to meet her standards. We always had a huge turnover. Then you were born and your mum said: now I have mine and she is enough.”

“Is that it?” I asked. It amazed me they had given me a circumstantial name; the truth is where I come from, a lot of families give their children circumstantial names. But I kinda expected something much more dazzling.

I am my mum’s first daughter, born after an older brother. Typically, they expected girls would manage their siblings and do most of the housekeeping.

So you kinda get an idea where my mum’s expectations lay. She would not have to train and boss other people’s kids around. She now had hers to boss around. I learned things really quickly. There were no more house servants.

We had chores every day. Other than making our beds and sweeping our rooms, we learned to cook dishes for the family, do the dishes afterward, wash the bathrooms, and clean up the compounds.

I learned to feed my kid brother, wash his nappies, and give him a bath. Sometimes, we would do laundry and iron clothes afterward. Many times, it felt like I spent so much time on chores I didn’t have time for a proper holiday.

It was funny cos I was that sickly child, but somehow was useful in my breakthrough moments. All those skills I learned followed me into adulthood so much that housekeeping is now a hobby of some sort.

A small twist

Sometimes, when I want to sound brief, I tell people my name means contentment. If names really followed people around, that would be me.

I am a very content person; I am content in my skin, with my belongings, and with what the world would consider as achievements. I rarely vie for much. Many times I think what I have is really enough. In fact, if I think or act otherwise, then it has something to do with who's around me at any point in time. I also noticed that sometimes, I feel a real sense of self-sufficiency. It is as if I am living true to my name: my own is enough for me.

And then another name

When I was seven, my dad told me my middle name was Judith. It seemed random cos this time, there was no story to it. What did I do? In my mind, I just adapted myself to the biblical heroine and said: “I’ll probably play this role someday.”

When I got into high school, my schoolmates had a rough time pronouncing my first name, so I told them they could call me Judith. I also did the same thing during my post-graduate studies.

Final thoughts

I am now in my 40s, so my character has formed. Sometimes, I see the meaning of my name in how my life has panned out. I also see other factors at play, like my environment, the company I keep, the choices I have made, the words I speak forth, and providence. Perhaps, when next you hear from me on this subject, I’ll likely tell you how I played that heroine role.

Thanks to Chelsea Marie.

If I’m gonna tell a real story, I’m gonna start with my name.- Kendrick Lamar.