Why My Name Sucks and Why It's So Important To Me

Alex Bellus
February 12, 2007
English 101
Why My Name Sucks and Why It’s So Important To Me

My full name is Alexander Bernard Bellus. When I was little and first understood exactly what a name was and what it was used for, I came to have a strong dislike for my name. First of all, until I was about six or seven years of age, I did not know that there was such a thing as a “middle name.” For that reason, I thought my middle and last name were combined as one. Alexander Bernardbellus… I didn’t like it too much; it was way too long and even harder to pronounce for me at the time, being the small child that I was. I couldn’t help to think that my name was a joke. Why did other children and even adults have shorter, more normal names? I was used to the two or three syllable names, not the eight syllable names. It wasn’t until I was about six that my babysitter finally explained to me that I had three names. Alexander Bernard Bellus. I began to understand where my name actually fell into and connected with this world. But, that didn’t mean I liked my name.
Throughout childhood I still hated my name. I especially didn’t like Alexander. For this reason, with my parents permission, I casually shortened my name to Alex. From then on my teachers and friends alike called me Alex. My dad was the only exception; he called me Al, the same name as my dad’s uncle. My middle name I learned I could just completely forget about. Bellus, however, just annoyed me. It didn’t roll off the tongue right and it just didn’t sound right to me. Once I made my way into the upper years of elementary school, I began to realize there was a bigger problem about my name than how it rolled off the tongue. The thing that really got to me was how many parents had named their kids Alex. Every year, it seemed, there would be another Alex in my class, sometimes even two or three! I was living the part of my life where kids are supposed to become individuals and learn how everyone has their own special characteristics. However, all I could think about was how I was supposed to be an individual with all these Alexs running around. The name was so plain and was completely too numerous.
As my teen years began to roll in, I started to actually grow a liking for my original first name, Alexander. For one thing, it seemed a lot less kids went by the name Alexander. Second, it was a very famous name. Many great men had the name Alexander way before I was even born. It took me many years to learn how important and amazing this name was. However, I was already known as Alex. I was not about to change my name back to Alexander, so I learned to live with Alex. I will always be Alex and I am happy with this. My last name, Bellus, was one that I just had to deal with. Once I realized it was my family name I knew it was one that was never going to go away. Even once I learned the meaning behind my middle name, It still seemed to just float there. Bernard… I was given this name because my grandpa on my mom’s side was named Bernard. I always tried to leave it out when I could help it. I preferred Alex B. Bellus. Now that I think of it, I will probably always leave my middle name out when I can. Its just extra weight, it drags my name more than it has to.
I didn’t realize how special my last name was until just a couple of years ago. My dad, he explained, had never really liked the name either. He thought our original family name was the best. It was Bellusi, or something of the sort, from what I can remember. It was Italian, of course. However, this name was changed through immigration to America. As my dad explained this to me, history lessons from past school years began to come to life. I remembered learning about how many people had to change their family names when they came to America. This was absolutely amazing to me. Furthermore, I realized how new my last name actually was. I could be one of the first Bellus’ in my entire family. I learned that the importance of a last name is not how it sounds, but what is in the history of that name. My last name finally seemed so special to me.
So, there you have it. Now you know the story behind the name Alexander Bernard Bellus of San Diego, California. Since I don’t really know the far back history of my family, I can’t go into detail about what the name Bellus or the name “Bellusi” really means or where exactly the names originated. I don’t know what the name Alexander or Alex means and I sure don’t know or really care what the name Bernard means. Therefore, you, the reader, shouldn’t care, either. However, you know all the important things about my name. You know what it means to me and my family and you know how I finally came to terms with my name, Alexander Bernard Bellus.