I can always tell when telemarketers call. Not because I have some sort of sophisticated technology like caller ID or a sixth sense like ESP, but because they always make the same mistake. They ask for Shahida Amin.
For those who don’t know, Shahida is my legal name… one that I was given at birth and used for the first 22 years of my life. Pronounced SHAH hee dah, it means “True Witness” and is a fairly common Arabic name for girls in the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa.*
In the US, however, it’s a foreign name, one that’s often pronounced shah HEE dah, shah HY dah, or as a gym coach referred to me for a whole semester, shah HA dee. While growing up, the mispronunciation didn’t bother me as much as the fact that my name often took on a life of its own.
On the first day of class, it was generally the first one called out (because of my last name), and the teacher always struggled with it, asking me to help her pronounce it correctly a few times, until I finally accepted whatever pronunciation was the closest so she could move on to the other people in class and put me out of my misery.
When I met people for the first time, we went through a similar process, except they had even more questions. Where is the name from? What does it mean? How do you pronounce it again? Did I say it right? What was your name again? I always looked forward to the point in the conversation where we could move past my name and talk about something else.
I realize now that people were just interested and intrigued; they were trying to honor me by making every effort to pronounce my name properly (well, everyone except for my gym coach), but for someone who was new to the country, still learning the language, and doing everything she could to fit in, it was not a pleasant experience. By the time I graduated from college, I was ready for a fresh start. I was headed to law school (another blog entry), where I didn’t think I would know anyone, so I decided to leave Shahida behind.
Summer and Samar
Having made the decision, I started shopping around for new names. First and foremost, I wanted a name that was fairly common (in the US), easy to pronounce, and memorable. Also, I wanted to keep my initials so I wouldn’t have to change my signature (I had enough on my plate with law school!). Finally, I didn’t want to lose my heritage, so I only considered Arabic names. In the end, I chose Samar, but decided to spell it Summer to save myself the conversation piece (later in life, I would meet a Samar Khleif, who is now one of my best friends).
From then on, I was Summer Amin. On my end, it took some getting use to, as I had to learn to introduce myself as Summer and then remember to respond when people called out my new name. For my family, it was a non-issue, as they had never called me Shahida to begin with (they always referred to me as Guriya, which means “Doll” in Urdu, or Apa, which means “Older Sister”). As for friends, I didn’t ask the old ones to use the new name until years later, and the new ones… well, they only knew me as Summer. Overall, it turned out to be a fairly easy switch.
I recently had the opportunity to pick a name again… this time for my business. My criteria: a name that was memorable, honored my heritage, and meant something to me. The two names I initially considered were Kismet, which means “Destiny” or “Fate,” and Maktub, which means “It is written” (from The Alchemist, one of my favorite books). Another option was to follow Oprah’s lead, whose company, Harpo, is her name spelled backwards.
It just so happens that NiMA, my last name spelled backwards, means “just, someone who treats others right and fair” in Persian. Once I learned the meaning, the decision was made; there was no better name than NiMA for my new company. Personally, it’s how I try to live my life. Professionally, it’s the promise I make to my clients.
* My last name, Amin, is also a fairly common Arabic name for boys in the same parts of the world. Pronounced ah MEEN, it has a similar meaning to Shahida: “Truthful” or “Trustworthy.” Thanks to Idi Amin, the former dictator of Uganda (no relation), it was well known throughout the world by the time I was born. It never caused me any inconvenience, so I never felt the need to change it, even when I was married (another blog entry). Besides, if you ever meet my siblings, you’ll understand that there’s a very Amin way of being, so there’s no denying or changing it.
When I was living in DC, it was easy to know when telemarketers were calling… They were often calling for Odeh (o-dah) 99 % of the time. Luckily, they would ask for “O-Day-Uh” in a nice heavy mid-western accent and we would respond politely by hanging up the phone.
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I love your name Summer! I also love your birth name. Thanks so much for sharing your story. My name is also Arabic and means “radiant light.” Yet another thing we have in common.
My name is Piter Jankovich. oOnly want to tell, that your blog is really cool
And want to ask you: is this blog your hobby?
P.S. Sorry for my bad english
Hi Piter! Thank you for the feedback. The blog is just something I do as a hobby, when I have a break between projects. As you can tell by the limited number of entries, I don’t get that many breaks. I hope to write more in the coming months!
Hey Summer its Mona
So you probably knew my name means “the wished for” in arabic, but it also means cute in spanish, and the funniest thing happened when I travelled to Mexico and I met someone who told me my name doesn’t only mean cute, but also drunk/tipsy and female monkey….
I think “wished for” and “cute” are apt descriptions for now! But who knows… maybe one day you’ll grow into “drunk/tipsy”
Wonderful journey and experience!
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