Name

How I long for a generic last name. A last name that would not command that much attention. A last name that would not lead to a word association. A last name that you cannot you in a sentence. Alas, as a song goes, you can’t always get what you want.

My name, all 21 letters not including my mom’s maiden last name, was invented even before my parents were married. My father had four names in mind, two for girls and another 2 for boys.

The first name was a shorter form of my mother’s, if the baby is a girl and my dad’s name, if a boy.

The second names were names found from the Bible. If the baby is a girl, the names starts with a “C” since my mom’s first name starts with a “C” and a “J” if a boy for the name reason.

As for the last name… I was doomed to get inherit it since it is my father’s.

Boongaling. Sheesh. My last name is from two Tagalog words – buo (whole) and galing (skill/ability/recovery). Word associations is inevitable with a name like that. Also, the pressure to live up to your name is unavoidable.

The Tagalog-ness alone is enough to make me want to cringe whenever I read or hear my whole name.But the constant mispronounciation could drive me mad. Due to the single ‘G”, some mispronounce it as Bo-ong-NGA-ling, when it’s supposed to be BoONG-galing.

What’s in a name, anyway?

I heard that a person’s name should be the sweetest word for them. It is their identity. The name is who they are.

Name could be a call to you life’s mission or your destiny – like Abraham which meant father of a multitude or many nations or Yeshua which meant Salvation.