What's it like to have a common name

Being someone born with an inherent identity crisis, whenever I come across my namesake, my first instinct is usually to prove to them that I am the alpha and establish superiority because I tend to get highly territorial about my name. I can only imagine the struggles of someone bearing a common name and it seriously makes me break a sweat. It is a legitimate problem which no one seems to talk about. Well, fret not. You have my attention.

YOU'RE NOT LIKE OTHERS

Okay, I believe that you are a special snowflake, Maisha. But this name that you share with a million other Maishas really chips away at your sense of being extraordinary. Despite the fact that your attributes make you one in a million, your name suggests otherwise. Now, you can blame your parents for this but you will also realise that the damage is already done and accept defeat. You will not consider changing it because enduring a lifetime with this name would still be more tolerable than a day at the passport office.

SOCIAL MEDIA NUISANCE

You might find yourself tagged in certain posts by a horde of friends time and again that demands you treat them with pizza. Reason behind this: your name. Even restaurants nowadays give weekly discounts on your name as if they are providing you with some consolation coupon for your sufferings. This might be something hopeful for a change until your friends start tagging you again and you feel morally obligated to feed them.

Finding an email, username or any social media handle corresponding to your name will be harder than finding Nemo. Furthermore, people also start declaring common personality traits among you and all your namesakes and make memes out of you as a category. So Nowshin, are you a person or a race?

EVERYDAY STRUGGLES

You were not only one of the five Zarins in your class but to make matters worse, once a rumour had started circulating that a certain someone had grown feelings for a Zarin from your class and you just sat there feeling the utter lack of passion in whoever labelled you. Teachers always confuse you with some other student and you always have to pinpoint who you exactly are. To avoid all the confusion in your life, you resort to the name your friends have mockingly baptised you with.

Desperate, you have tried reconstructing your name differently to the point of spelling Lamia as Laameeyughh only to make yourself stand out but this has only been a temporary relief. The only closure can come from becoming a parent yourself and passing on this token of pain to the next generation. It also feels like discrimination when others exclaim delight at the uniqueness of your friend's name like they are meant for greatness but tell you that their uncle's daughter's pet snake is also named Tasnim. 

A name is supposed to validate your existence but when it validates two others in the room as well, it can get a little displeasing. However, do not let me put you down with this article. After all, what's in a name?

Iqra suffers from wanderlust, dreams of discovering the Loch Ness Monster and occasionally complains about Economics. Tell her to get a life at iqra.kashmir53@gmail.com or www.facebook.com/iqra.l.qamari