Hello, this is my post for the What’s In a Name Writing Assignment on the ds106 website. I always get a look from people after I spell out my first name for them or a comment like “that’s a pretty way to spell it”, but not many people ask why Kayleigh is spelled the way it is. My blog name has parts of my real name incorporated into it. My full name is Kayleigh Ann Barbee. My last name comes from my father’s side of the family and has mixed Irish/Scottish origins while my middle name, Ann, was the middle name of one of my great, great grandmothers on my mother’s side of the family. My first name comes from a more interesting and unusual source. My mother and father loved the modern music they grew up with in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Before I was born they had listened to the music of a British neo-progressive rock band called Marillion. Their biggest hit came out in 1985 and became No. 2 on the charts and the song was titled “Kayleigh”. My parents loved the music and the message of love in this rock song so that was how I was given the name Kayleigh. I researched later that the name has Irish and Gaelic origins, which connects perfectly with my last name.

I chose this topic because I think that the way my parents chose my first name is fascinating to me. Many people in my family received their first names from older family members or family members that they would never get to know because they had passed. Also, I wanted to ask my family about the origin of my middle name because I had never asked about it before. I also found out that if I had been a boy I would have been named Lucas, but they didn’t have a clear reason for that name other than my parents both liked the name. I know my mom really enjoys the first Star Wars trilogy, but I am pretty sure that my boy name had nothing to do with George Lucas.

I also chose this topic because people sometimes ask if my last name has any relation to the doll which shares the same name with a different spelling. Mainly, I just carry around a card with my full name on it so I don’t have to spell my name out loud for people and so I don’t get frustrated trying to tell someone that my name is Kayleigh, not Katelyn, Katie, or Haylee. By explaining my name, I feel that the name has more of a presence than just labeling it as just a different or modified version of an easier to spell name. For this assignment, I just typed up the assignment here on my blog and embedded a video of Marillion’s song from Youtube.

This is the “What’s in a Name?” writing assignment that is two points. My given name is a part of the url for this blog. My name is Kassia Rivera. My last name is sort of self explanatory. I’m half-Hispanic (specifically Puerto Rican) on my dad’s side so, I have a Hispanic last name. My first name is a bit more interesting. My name isn’t very common in the United States. It’s origin is Hebrew and it means Pure. It’s more common in places like Poland and the UK. The reason my first name is a name that is very rare is because my mom likes to read. She was reading a mystery series and she admired the name and decided that I would have that name. Another interesting thing is that I don’t pronounce my name like it should be pronounced because my mom never looked up the formal pronunciation and just went with what she thought it was supposed to pronounced as. So, it should be pronounced like kah-SEE-ah but I say KASS-ee-ah instead. I’ve never met someone with the same name as me in America, and I would be really surprised if I did.

For my last writing assignment of the week, I chose “Whats in a Name?“ I am assigned the task of explaining why I named my blog the name I gave it. Surpassing the Dimension of Time is the title of my blog… but why?

Thats why.

I was so moved by this movie with the message it gave, I actually wrote it down on my iPhone as soon as I thought of it. “Gravity and love are the only two things that can cross the dimension of time.” This is the lesson I learned. I would have made that quote the title of my blog but I felt it was too long. So in result, I got “Surpassing the Dimension of Time. Time is infinite, but what if love and gravity are much greater than that of time? It may be hard to wrap your mind around it but its something to ponder. I do not know how you create a quote… but what I just said there earlier is probably one of the most meaningful sentences I have ever said.

2 STARS

I named my blog The Music of the Night for many reasons. If you are someone who knows Broadway than you know this is a song in Phantom of the Opera. I have grown up around operas, musicals, and plays my whole life. I liked this name because to me I wanted a name for the blog that described what the blog would be about and what I am about. I love music. If you ask me my favorite kind of music it will be different each day. Music is people expressing themselves. I may never be able to express myself through music, I can not sing and I am horrible at playing an instrument, I love to learn about other people. Just like reading a blog that people wright to describe themselves, it is so much more fun to try and figure out what they are saying through a song.

This name is not just a song name to me either. I find that this class is like a big mystery. We are all on our computers somewhere doing about the same things. Some people may be outside in the rain, even though I have no idea who would be stupid enough to take their nice computers out in the rain, doing the same assignment that I am doing in my room this fine evening. It is a mystery. Just like the night. You may not be able to see a person clearly in the dark but you can still talk to them and learn about them. That is what we are doing here. We are learning about each other and even ourselves without actually seeing the person. Through clues we can make out what a person is like or what they like to do without actually spending any face to face interaction, that could also be a bad thing.

So to sum up my rambling The Music of the Night is a place to let people figure out who I am through what I say.

A great blog will never be looked at if it doesn’t have a great title, just like a great book with a boring title will just be tossed aside. For the “What’s in a name?” assignment, I could either tell about my given name, which is incredibly boring, or tell about my blog name, which is more interesting. My parents gave me my given name, but I created my blog name, so I feel a deeper connection to it. Perhaps this is what parents feel when they name their children. My blog is my baby, and it is time to tell the world what its name means to me and why I chose this name. Since my blog is the way I communicate on the web, the name has to reflect everything that I am, without being too long or confusing. I realize that my blog title can be a bit confusing at first, but hopefully that draws readers in. Now that you are (hopefully) intrigued and curious, here is my explanation of what’s in my blog’s name:

My blog’s name is “Roehl-road Xing.” To the untrained eye, you may say, “what on earth is a roll-road, and why is it crossing?” Fun fact: you pronounce Roehl “rail,” not “roll.” In my life, almost everyone has messed up the pronunciation of Roehl (with good reason). Therefore, my blog name is pronounced “rail-road crossing.” I wrote “Xing” instead of “crossing” because that is how it is spelled on signs, which furthers the railroad analogy (plus I love those silly signs you can get for your room that say things like “whale Xing”). As for the Roehl-road part, I am Roehl and my thoughts are the train that chugs down the Roehl track. Perhaps it is a little egotistical to name the train and train track after myself, but after all it is my brain we are dealing with here. Don’t worry; you can board the Roehl train to experience the wonder that is my thought process. Your other option is to stop at the blinking light and wait until the Roehl train has passed. Besides that, the other reason why I named by blog Roehl-road Xing is because there are precious few times in my life that I had the opportunity to make fun of the fact that my name is pronounced “rail.” Wouldn’t you do the same thing?

You may notice that when it comes to talking about my blog name, there are lots of metaphors involved (or maybe just one big metaphor with little ones inside it). Trains and metaphors are both seen in noir films, but it would be a lie to say that’s what I had in mind when I named my blog. It’s name is nothing more or less than a microcosm of my personality, and that’s how it should be. Now you know something about my blog name, and about me too.

What’s in a Name? (2 points)

Well, since I have already explained the name of my blog in my introduction. I will talk about my given name Lauren Elizabeth.

For starters I will say that my name was picked out by my mother years before she had ever even met my father. One of her requirements to getting married was that their first born daughter was to be named Lauren Elizabeth. I was named Lauren after my Great Aunt Laura and my Great Uncle Loran. On a side note, my uncle received his name because he was the fourth son and they wanted a daughter, so they named him Loran Mabel. So I guess you can say, Lauren is a family name, which was always intended to be for women in my family. I also now have a second cousin (once removed, I think) whose middle name is Lauren as well.

Elizabeth came from my mother’s hometown. Elizabeth, Indiana is a small town in southern Indiana just across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. There is one stop sign in the town and is primarily made up of country roads. Majority of my family from my mom’s side still lives in or around Elizabeth, so I go back at least once a year to visit. Also, if you drive down Highway 11 (the main road that goes through Elizabeth) sometimes it feels like I am related to about half the people who live there. Once, my sister and I asked my mom if she ever worried about falling for someone at school who ended up being her distant cousin and she replied, “No, we are pretty well versed on our lineage.”

Personally, I have never been a big fan of my first name, since it is so common. In the year I was born, it was the 11^th most popular name, so I have never particularly cared for it. When I was in middle school, I had a class with four Lauren’s and it was miserable, because going by your initial is never fun and Lauren isn’t the kind of name where you can create a nickname. On the other hand, I absolutely love my middle name, and one day I plan on naming my daughter Elizabeth too.

I chose this writing assignment, first because it was easy, and second because I love any chance I have to rant about my name. I chose to look at the family history surrounding my name, because, unlike my younger sister, whose name was chosen because it sounded nice, my name has stories behind it, and I am really proud of that. There was not really any thought process that went behind this other than my train of thought. I guess I could have made up this long elaborate tale of how my family searched earnestly for the perfect name for their first born, and fell upon the beauty that is Lauren Elizabeth. But this would be completely fabricated, so I thought I would stick to the truth.

What’s in a Name?

Your name is with you forever. Whether it’s your first or last. It is what people hear first when you introduce yourself. It is on all of your papers, projects, assignments, mail, accounts, job application, and much more. Some people may not like theirs and want to change it others wear it with pride. There are so many times you hear someone say “Oh what was that person’s name at the party” or wherever. When you have one that’s so unique it can make people remember you much easier. There are many Smith’s, Johnson’s, Wilson’s, and Davis’. How many Peed’s are there? Well, I don’t know exactly but I googled it and they say less than 2,500 in the US. I have never met another Peed in this world nor heard of one that I am not related to. Not saying I am directly related to all Peed’s but you don’t hear it often. Now I am not saying my surname is the only one like it but it is unforgettable.

I was born into the Peed Family. One that is unique within itself. On that day little did I know what that name would do for me. From early on I heard many jokes. It is such an easy name to make fun of. Just by saying my name Travis Peed you already have a subject and verb. It’s a sentence in itself. All you have to do is add something on the end and you can make fun of it. I heard those jokes from my neighborhood friends, preschool, Elementary, Middle, and High School. I have heard them at parties and sporting events. I have even heard it in College. I thought that at some point people would be mature enough to just see it as a name. Boy was I wrong.

At first, I would come home from elementary school upset because the new kids made fun of my name. They would say it over and over and just kept thinking it was the funniest joke ever. After a few years in the school most people stopped because it got old. I thought I was in the clear. Then middle school happened. We had 2 elementary schools merge together. All of those new kids then repeated the same joke. Same deal with high school and college. I have had teachers calling roll, saying everyone else’s last name then get to mine and just say Travis…. or better yet say Travis Reed. Here are some examples of the jokes I heard:

• Travis Peed but I don’t know where
• Travis Peed his pants.
• Travis Peed over there.
• Travis Peed on the wall.

I get so much spam in the mail that says Mr. Travis Reed. Phone calls from telemarketers saying is Mr. Reed there? I would always answer No, no Reed but there is a Peed and hang up. So many people look at it and think it’s a typo. I have had people question applications that I write saying is it Reed? NO, I didn’t forget the second leg on the R. I am old enough to know how to spell my last name.

How can I relate this to The Wire? I looked through the names of the characters  and no one has a funny name like mine. I do recall how people call for Jimmy McNulty. There are numerous times within the episodes that the characters call for him by saying “McNulty.” Whether they are yelling at him or just getting his attention they refer to him by his last name. Once people get over the humor in my last name it is an easy one to call for me. Unless I am at a Peed Family gathering I can almost guarantee I will be the only person to respond to PEED.

After all this ranting about my surname some may think I don’t like it and wish I had a different name. I had that feeling before. Multiple times I can remember wishing I didn’t have to say my last name in front of the class. Even though it was embarrassing at times I would never give it up. I have had so many times that people hear my name and say “Wait are you related to …..” They will state one of my relatives, or parents, or sisters. Then they will have some story about how they met them or know them. I have had times that people say “Yea I remember you from …..” When I introduce myself to anyone for a possible job prospect I make sure to emphasize my last name. Then when I call back or put in an application it is an easy way to remember me. It will be extremely beneficial for me when during my work career. Yea it is great to have people remember me and make connections with me but that’s not the best part. The best part is I am the only one from my Grandparents  family that will carry the name on. Every other of my dad’s brothers had daughters and are married. My cousins all of different last names. My two sisters will also have a different last name, assuming they will get married. I am the only one that can and will carry this name into the future. I am proud to be a Peed.