What's in a name?
My full name is pretty long, Malin Birgitta Marie Forsberg, but it says a lot about me and a lot about my family. The names Malin, Birgitta, and Forsberg are all Swedish. My dad grew up in Sweden and all of my relatives on his side still live there. I'm also fortunate enough to be a citizen of Sweden, and even though I was born in the United States, my parents wanted me to have a name that reflected my Swedish heritage.
The name Malin comes from Magdalen, which was the name of a saint. However, my parents chose it mostly because it can be easily pronounced in English (In my experience, that is not entirely true.). Having an unusual first name, has definitely made my life more interesting. I'm not sure most people know what to expect when they see it, most don't even know if I'm a boy or girl after just seeing "Malin Forsberg" written on an application or attendance sheet.
My name leads to a lot of unusual comments when I meet someone new, such as: "Where are you from?" (Raleigh, not as interesting as you'd expect) and "What does it mean?" (I don't know, it's just a name??) and "Oh, how unique! Did your parents make it up?" (No....). It also makes the first day of school, as well as having substitute teachers, way more entertaining. I'm constantly learning new ways to say my own name. Not to mention all the different ways to spell it ("Mollin" is a pretty common spelling). For awhile my friends at my dance studio pronounced my name, "May-Lin", as a joke, after having a substitute dance teacher. My best friend still finds it funny to call me that.
It is also entirely impossible to find find my name on one of those cute tourist key-chains or mini license plates. I don't even have to look to know that its not there. But even with all the difficulties that come with my name, I wouldn't want to change it for anything. I like having a name that no one else has (in the U.S., in Sweden there are about a gazillion of me). I also like knowing that my Swedish family 4,500 miles away is always with me in my name.
Individuality
In my lifetime, I have yet to find myself in any specific situations where I was stuck between my individuality and my role as part of a whole, such as Anna Quindlen does in her article "The Name is Mine." However, I think human beings living in societies naturally struggle with how much of their individuality to keep or to give up in order to function as part of the greater population.
We all want to be ourselves and be unique and to express who we are without interruption. Unfortunately, this doesn't entirely work because we are human and therefore, imperfect. Meaning, we must make things more complicated by also wanting to fit-in and to be similar to other people. This paradox plagues us on a daily basis, affecting what we say, wear, even what we think. I often find myself wondering if I like this or that shirt because that girl totally rocked it or because it appeals to my individual tastes (Does it truly make a difference either way?).
We also struggle with our identities when we are in groups. For example groups I would fall into are: dancer, teenager, girl, student and many others. In order to fit into these groups, there are parts of myself that I have to give up. I have had to develop an interest in math and in history, I have also had to learn to enjoy fouette turns and modern dance in order to thrive in within my groups. Dancer and student are two groups that are always over-lapping and shaping my life. They shape the way I think and the way I express myself. In these instances, I am two. I am not only a dancer or a student, but also Malin Forsberg, an individual.
