WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Everyone always wants to know how I got about spelling my name B-E-K-I (though I go by Beeki on the blogs). This question actually strikes me as odd since I didn't, contrary to popular belief, name myself. I suppose that some people do change the spellings of their names once they are 18, but if I had done that I would have dramatically altered my name to "Cleopatra" or something sassy like that. Anyway, to understand my name, one must know my legal first name: Rebekah. This is the King James spelling of my name, which is more special knowing that my brothers and I each have one Old Testament and one New Testament name:

Paul David

Mark Daniel

Rebekah Christine

I actually love my first name when it is spelled out. What makes it even cooler is that my last name (Baker) uses only letters found in my first name. Snazzy.

I have not always loved my nickname, though, which I have been called from birth. My parents got the idea to call me "Beki" as they had an artist friend who spelled her name that way and they liked it. They also liked spelling the name with four letters to match everyone else in the family, all of whom have four-letter names. I didn't mind everyone calling me Beki growing up, but that all changed in high school. You see, my freshman year I played on the basketball team, and it was tradition for the principal to share game stats over the loudspeaker during announcements. One day, the principal announced my number of steals from the previous night's game, but instead of calling me Beki, he said, "Beeki" (bee-key). This would not have been such a big deal at a small high school. Unfortunately, I went to a school of 3, 000. EVERYONE in the school all day called me "Beeki" and laughed at me. I was mortified, mainly because I was in high school and everything was such a big deal at the time. I came home with tears in my eyes, asking my mom, "Why did you name me Beeki??!"

Years later, Beeki has become a favored nickname for me (also Beeki Bear and Oh, Beeeeeeeki). I have come around to loving the name and feeling special when people call me by any of my nicknames. What matters most is the way in which the name is said: with love. After all, what's in a name? Apparently just letters and sounds.