What's In A Name?

I got my idea upon reading @Eybyoung's article about how she come up with her username. Anyway, mine would not just be about my username but also my real name. We all know that the name leaves a big impression on other people. Or was it just me? And some say that the name basically suits you according to your personality. Maybe not instantly, but as time goes by, your name will suit you perfectly.

When I was in kindergarten, my name was Madeline. That was the name given to me by my mother. And I love it. I don't know, but I feel so pretty with that name, lol! Some of my friends would call me Mady or Lyn. However, things changed when I entered elementary school. You know, they now require your birth certificate upon enrollment. And to my surprise, I became Melinda. My grandma told me that my father had it registered at our local city registrar and he mistakenly wrote Melinda instead of Madeline. I hate the name, actually, lol! Because it reminded me of Aleng Melinda, who is very nosy about other people's lives and she is nagpapataya ng jueteng in our barrio. And it sounds like a name for an old lady, lol! Well, that's what I thought at the time. I told my Lola that I was not going to use that name, but she said there was nothing we could do about it because it was already on the record. 

During my first week of school, I told my classmates that my name is Madeline, and whenever my teachers called me for recitation, I would not respond until they said "Madeline." I was so stubborn about my name at that time. And so my grandma was called to our school to talk about how stubborn I was. So, I had no other choice but to accept the fact that I am Melinda and not Madeline. Hehe! But my grandmother still called me Madeline when she was still alive. I could even remember her voice when she was calling me, "Madeline!" Hahaha!

Curious about the meaning of my name, I searched it on Names.org and here's what I got.

According to the site, Melinda means "sweet, honey." And so I love my name even more. Char! Hahaha!

Now, let's move on to my username. The first username that I used on these platforms was Damelindz. It was actually my stepbrother who gave me that name. He's the son of my stepmom to his first husband. And then my friends and neighbors started calling me that name as well, and I liked it. And so I've been using that name since then. I even created an account on Friendster. I don't know if you are familiar with that site, but it was popular in my era, lol! Did I just sound so old? hahaha

It was also my username when I joined Read.Cash a year ago. But because I was tagged as spam and was demonitized, I created other accounts, and my last was Pachuchay. I remember Jane asked me once why I used Pachuchay. My answer to her was that I think Pahuchay suits my personality very well. I was a happy, loud person and always had a story to tell, lol! And that's exactly how I am, so it perfectly suits me, hehe!

So I came to the conclusion that our names really reflect what our personalities are like. As for me, I am a loud and happy person. I love to talk a lot, and of course, I am a very passionate woman, so I guess both names, Melinda and Pachuchay, suit me.

How about you guys? Do you like your name and do you also think that it reflects the real you?

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Date Published: February 20, 2022

All Photos are mine unless stated otherwise