What’s in a Name?

I rarely go to Starbucks. If I do it’s usually while at an airport and traveling. But sometimes I get a hankering…

The other day I decided to get an afternoon latte because that extra push later in the day sounded good to me. I stood behind another woman as she ordered and even though I didn’t quite hear the name she said to the cashier, I knew it sounded similar to mine. Once I ordered my drink, the cashier of course asked for my name. When I told her “Elaine” she asked, “wait, how do yo spell that?” She grasped the black marker in her right hand, poised to begin writing my name. “It’s E.L.A.I.N.E.,” I said and then she began to apologize. “The lady right before you was Eileen so I just got confused for a minute. Also, I have not hear that name in a while!”

I responded with a “Really… yeah, I guess it’s not that popular.”

“I like it though,” she said.

We preceded to have an entire “name” conversation because there was no one in line behind me. I also asked her name since I didn’t see a name tag. Her name was Angela but she told me she goes by “Ang” since there is another Angela at that SB and her manager didn’t want things to be confusing. She told me that she did NOT like being called Angie and I told her how people sometimes call me “Lainey”. We quickly concluded that we were not really fans of nicknames for our own names.

When I picked up my drink I was super impressed with the way she wrote my name and posted a picture on social media. It was even my FB cover photo right for a little while. I think Angela needs to do calligraphy or create fonts for a living.

 

 

I quite like my name now. I suppose you could infer that from my blog name, right? However, it wasn’t always my favorite, especially when I was a kid, because it was different than all the other girls’ names in school. I kind of wanted to be in with all the others, who had names like Jennifer or Michelle.

I credit my mother (as well as age) for helping me appreciate it more. She told me several times what is means and I kind of had to like it after knowing this:

Meaning of Elaine: “bright, shining light”

I think that is pretty fitting. If you know you me, you may agree.

 

So yeah, that’s the sweet and innocent meaning of my name and then there’s the Urban dictionary meaning.

Elaine: #foxy #sexy #hot #tempting #spicy

I have to say those last few words kind of sound more like a jalapeno instead of an “Elaine”. But hey, I’ll take it. HA!

 

Nowadays I could never picture myself having a different name than this one. I like that it is somewhat unique, and even though I hear “that’s my aunt’s name” or “that’s my middle name” a lot, it’s alright. It is MY first name and I adore it.

Now if only I could learn to write it as awesomely as Angela…