What is your name? (Name)
The topic of this essay is very exciting to me, since my name could be one of the most unique characteristics of my family. I was born in Russia. When I was eleven years old, I had a chance to read a story about one ancient hero, which caught my attention. That hero was Alexander the Great. Alexander was born to a Macedonian King Phillip in 356 BC. When he was a young boy, his father died, and Alexander became a new leader of Macedonian people. He soon has revealed himself as a talented warrior and strategist, as he started invading the nearby countries. Before his death, he conquered most of the world known to the ancient Greeks, never losing a battle. He has achieved so much, that even today we know him as one of the greatest conquerors of all times.
Why did this story surprise me so much? Well, back then, I was living in Russia, where, unlike US, Alexander the Great is known as Alexander of Macedonia, or in Russian: “Alexander Makedonsky.”
Now imagine, what an eleven year old boy is supposed to feel, when he finds out, that he has the same last and first name as the great warrior! I was shocked, I was excited, and I could not sleep! Not only his last name, but even the first name! Jack pot! It was better than finding a real UFO, which was at the top of my dream list at that time. I couldn’t wait to tell all of my friends about my discovery.
All of the sudden, I’ve had remembered a story, that happened to me when I was six years old. My mother took me to a movie theater, where a nice old lady, who was checking our tickets at the entrance, decided to talk to the little boy: ”Such a nice boy,” she said to me, “What is your name?”
“Alexander Makedonsky,” I replied.
Her face has changed.
“You are such a little boy, and already are a liar!”
That was a hit below the belt. I had no idea, why she said that, so I started crying.
“I’m not a liar,” I said to her through the tears.
When I turned thirteen, I started to learn more about my famous namesake, and how surprised I was to find out that a few hundred years after Alexander’s death, two of his descendents, that carried his name, moved up north, and founded the city in the area where all of my ancestors are from.
Does that mean that my family could have had a direct connection with the Macedonian conqueror? We don’t know, but now we have a great story to tell our new friends, when we get together for dinner.
But that is not the end of the saga yet. At the age 19, I have moved to my new home, the United States of America, and … No one knows “Alexander Makedonsky”! People don’t look at me funny when I introduce myself, sales persons don’t ask me about my family heritage when I hand them my credit card, no one recognizes my name. I gave up my life of a “family name celebrity”.
Moreover, my name had to go through some transformation procedures as well. While applying for a status of a US citizen, I was told that every American should have a middle name, and since in Russia people don’t use middle names, so I should just choose one. But how can I choose myself another name?! So I was told to use my fathers name as a middle name. Now, my dad had the same first name as I, so Alexander Alexander Makedonsky appeared in the application. A month later, I received a letter from INS stating, that in the US people can not have the exact same first and middle name, so in the records my official name will be… Alexander Alexandr Makedonsky. They got rid of one letter in my middle name. So after such a “name circumcision” they left it alone and it became my new full name.
Recently I have started a process of converting into Judaism, in other words, to become a Jew. And one of the requirements, as I found out, at the end of the conversion will be choosing a new, “Jewish” name for myself. That could only mean that the story of my name is to be continued.
Many years ago, one famous Russian writer said, that the name of a person defines his fate. I can only argue, and say that my experience showed the exact opposite. I don’t know how many more stories my name will create, but I know for sure, that it will always be reflecting my life and the life of my family just like it has been doing so far.
Why did this story surprise me so much? Well, back then, I was living in Russia, where, unlike US, Alexander the Great is known as Alexander of Macedonia, or in Russian: “Alexander Makedonsky.”
Now imagine, what an eleven year old boy is supposed to feel, when he finds out, that he has the same last and first name as the great warrior! I was shocked, I was excited, and I could not sleep! Not only his last name, but even the first name! Jack pot! It was better than finding a real UFO, which was at the top of my dream list at that time. I couldn’t wait to tell all of my friends about my discovery.
All of the sudden, I’ve had remembered a story, that happened to me when I was six years old. My mother took me to a movie theater, where a nice old lady, who was checking our tickets at the entrance, decided to talk to the little boy: ”Such a nice boy,” she said to me, “What is your name?”
“Alexander Makedonsky,” I replied.
Her face has changed.
“You are such a little boy, and already are a liar!”
That was a hit below the belt. I had no idea, why she said that, so I started crying.
“I’m not a liar,” I said to her through the tears.
When I turned thirteen, I started to learn more about my famous namesake, and how surprised I was to find out that a few hundred years after Alexander’s death, two of his descendents, that carried his name, moved up north, and founded the city in the area where all of my ancestors are from.
Does that mean that my family could have had a direct connection with the Macedonian conqueror? We don’t know, but now we have a great story to tell our new friends, when we get together for dinner.
But that is not the end of the saga yet. At the age 19, I have moved to my new home, the United States of America, and … No one knows “Alexander Makedonsky”! People don’t look at me funny when I introduce myself, sales persons don’t ask me about my family heritage when I hand them my credit card, no one recognizes my name. I gave up my life of a “family name celebrity”.
Moreover, my name had to go through some transformation procedures as well. While applying for a status of a US citizen, I was told that every American should have a middle name, and since in Russia people don’t use middle names, so I should just choose one. But how can I choose myself another name?! So I was told to use my fathers name as a middle name. Now, my dad had the same first name as I, so Alexander Alexander Makedonsky appeared in the application. A month later, I received a letter from INS stating, that in the US people can not have the exact same first and middle name, so in the records my official name will be… Alexander Alexandr Makedonsky. They got rid of one letter in my middle name. So after such a “name circumcision” they left it alone and it became my new full name.
Recently I have started a process of converting into Judaism, in other words, to become a Jew. And one of the requirements, as I found out, at the end of the conversion will be choosing a new, “Jewish” name for myself. That could only mean that the story of my name is to be continued.
Many years ago, one famous Russian writer said, that the name of a person defines his fate. I can only argue, and say that my experience showed the exact opposite. I don’t know how many more stories my name will create, but I know for sure, that it will always be reflecting my life and the life of my family just like it has been doing so far.
Labels: Alexander Makedonsky
posted by Alexander Makedonsky at
4:15 PM
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