Infinite Ink

It's all in the name

Does it decrease your sense of self to stumble across accounts on social networking sites with your exact full name? It certainly puts a dent in my sense of uniqueness. "What, someone else has exactly my name?!" News flash: people with popular names are more likely to experience this, and just don't get me started on girls named Anam (or Anum, if you prefer). One time, one of my friends named Anam (not Anum) was standing around randomly in school or tuition center or somewhere, and a group of people came up behind her discussing girls' names. One of them said, "You lift a rock and there's an Anam underneath it!" Then one of them asked her what her name was. Classic.

By the way, my name is not Anam. Or Anum. Just for the record. It's "Iqra". Without the quotes.

I did not accept anyone's nickname for me until last year, when one of my friends came up with one that I deemed semi-acceptable. Baba calls me "Baaji" (sister) because I remind him of his own sister, and also because he used to call me that to make my brother call me Baaji when we both were little. My brother never called me Baaji, but my father still calls me Baaji to this day.

Mama calls me by name.

My brother sometimes calls me "Bismi". You know, the ayah of the Quran in which my name occurs. "Bismi" is the word that comes after "Iqra" in that ayah.

They say the name has an effect on the personality of the person. I love to read, and I read a LOT, so I suppose it's true in my case.

Do you like your name? What do you feel about sharing your name with other people? Next chapter: vanity search!