What's in the name?

Many of you reading this blog know me as Cebu, but some of you know me as Kelly. What is with the name? Well, many people have asked me that question and so let me set the story straight.

Three or four years ago I was going through some personal trials. I was figuring out who I was and who I wanted to be. I had some big decisions to make and I went through a lot of changes. It was about this time in my life when I felt like the old Cebu everyone knew wasn't the same person I was now. I have always liked the name Cebu and enjoyed being unique but now all of the sudden I didn't feel like the name matched who I had become.

I started working for USU. After 10 days of answering who I was, why I was really white, if Cebu was my real name, why I didn't have a middle name, where did my name come from, what were my siblings names, why didn't they get "weird" names, where are my parents from, why isn't it spelled with a S, and many other questions. I had it! I was done. I didn't mind having a special name, but I didn't want to explain my name every day. I got to the point where I would avoid the question of "what is your name" and would dread answering the question when I couldn't avoid it. I thought to myself "why should I be so embarrassed by my name." I didn't like having this identity crisis every day so one day I sat down with the newspaper and I started looking for names (the names in wedding parties and names of family members in obituaries is where I started).

I finally found "Kelly" I thought the name fit, it was easy to spell, and it was "normal" enough to not raise questions about the color of my skin. I really like the name Kelly and enjoy going by it. I think it so cool that other people have my name and I love that everyone spells it right. It drives Kyle nuts sometimes because it isn't my real name. My family still call me Cebu, which is fine. They all know where my name comes from and so they don't ask questions. The only time it is a pain to have two names is when you are hanging out with your family and you meet someone from work. Then there is a small confusion, but that rarely happens.

At work I am known as the "name" police. When someone has a baby the mother likes to check with me first to see if it is too outlandish. I actually like most names. The only advice I give people is to make sure it is easy to spell and doesn't question there race or sex. You don't name a boy Sally and a girl Bruce. You also don't spell a simple name like Sally
C-E-A-I-L-L-I-E-Y! Well there you have it that is my soap box on names.
For the record I passed ISLA and JAXON.