What's in a Name? — MelinaMou

What's in a name? that which we call a roseBy any other name would smell as sweet;What is in a name, dear old Juliet? You speak of forbidden love, but honey that don't even scratch the surface of the issue. Capulet and Montague aren't the only names that carry baggage here.

My name has baggage, and I'm not just talking about how everyone keeps singing that damn Drake song at me. Kikí, as you may or may not know, is a nickname for Angeliki. Αγγέλικη, actually. Named for my dad's mom.

As you can imagine, (or remember, if you were there), the first day of school always sucked for me. Sometimes even the second and third days, too. And for some particularly careless teachers, it sucked all the way into second semester. Angelicka. Angelica. Angelique. The list goes on and on. Some people, despite constant insistence to just call me Kikí, continue to attempt to pronounce my full name.

Just don't.

Some things need to be left alone, and my name is one of them. Because it's not just my name, it's my Yiayia's name. I know you just want to be able to do it, prove you can or whatever, but repeating my name over and over gets annoying for me, and hearing it be mispronounced over and over again starts to grate on me and even feel a little bit disrespectful. Not just to me, but my Yiayia.

Call me Kikí. I don't even mind if you get the accent wrong, because yes, it's supposed to go on the second syllable. Not a must, but kind of a suggestion. I do not begrudge someone being unable to pronounce my full name. I get that it's difficult, because the sound that the "γ" makes doesn't appear in the English language and it's a hard thing to learn. But I have a nickname for a reason, and that reason is to make your life easier. Yet all y'all be out here gettin' your knickers in a twist trying to say my name. Don't.

Legally, my name is Angeliki Moussetis, and I have no intention to change that. I'm proud of my name and I love being named for my grandmother. But I introduce myself as Kikí and I go by Kiki Moussetis in all my professional work, and there's a reason for that. The reason being that it's just simpler for all involved and saves me trouble. So save yourself some trouble. Call me Kikí.

And I swear if ONE MORE PERSON asks me if I love them, if I'm riding, or to "have a Kiki", or "how's the delivery service" I SWEAR I WILL LOSE IT.