Introducing Me..

My name is pretty boring. I wish I was named after some famous soccer player or had one of the pretty Irish names all my cousins, and even my sister have. I don't even have a nickname, except that a few of my family members, especially my parents, call me Laursie, but thats not quite what I was hoping for. My name is Laura Elizabeth (Margaret) Linehan. Nothing special, not very unique, but as I've grown up with my not so exciting name, I've found some depth to it. It doesn't show my love for soccer and good music, fetish with learning languages or my appreciation of debates, discussions, and politics. Nor does one see that I take a liberal stand on many issues and form stubborn opinions about almost anything and everything just from my name. Laura is the feminine version of the Latin name meaning laurel...a tree leaf...cool. But it's also the name of my mom's best friend and bridesmaid in her wedding and apparently my mom finds it to be a "soft" name, lovely. I've taken French, Spanish and Arabic and my name has been pronounced differently in each language. Pretty confusing, but then in Morocco, my name was pronounced Lauga, which, funnily enough, sounded just like the Arabic word for language. Languages are something I'm really interested in and for my name to be pronounced like the word for language was something I secretly loved, even though I never told anyone the connection I made.
Elizabeth is my middle name, also known as the middle name of every other girl I know. However it is also my grandma's name and the source of jokes between my aunt and I. She was always called Margaret Mary growing up and hated the double name. When I was little, after hearing this, I would always call her by her double name and she would teasingly call me Laura Liz in return. I was not impressed at the time, but it still to this day remains a joke.
For my Confirmation I got to pick another name as long as it was a saint. At first I wanted some symbolic name like Frances, the patron saint of animals, because I've always loved them or a vivaciously different name like Caterina, just because. I ended up choosing Margaret. Continuing my not so wild name, I chose that name because it was the first name of my other grandma and my very close aunt that also happens to be my godmother.
My last name, Linehan. The source of frustration every first day of school and whenever a substitute attempts to do attendance. It's pronounced len-eh-hen, but after 11 years in school I learn to deal with whatever butchering of my name I face. I did Irish dancing for 7 years and the owners of the school had the same last name as me, but it was spelled Lenihan. That version is a bit easier to sound out. I like my last name though. It shows my Irish roots. There is a Gaelic football field in Ireland, near where my dad grew up and it is named after my granddad, Tim Linehan. Whenever my family visits the field its always special to see my last name up on the plaque and I feel connected to my granddad, even though I never got to meet him.
Whenever I talk about my name I complain and moan about how it doesn't show much about me, doesn't leave much room for nicknames, and isn't all that unique. I could be named after an admirable athlete or famous author. But my parents just liked the names they chose, though my dad wrote down my name in the hospital when I was born, ultimately choosing Laura over Sarah, without my mom realizing. I think that if I ever have a kid, they will have some worldly and unique name that I wish I could have had and I'm sure they will dislike their name as much as I dislike mine. Don't know what you have 'till it's gone right? But sometimes I like my name and sometimes I don't. In the end, I have discovered that it shows some connections and memories I don't usually think of and that it really isn't too bad...until the first day of school.