What's in a Name?

Growing up, I used to hate my name because it's so short (only 4 letters okay?!) and I don't have a middle name. My pragmatic dad decided to give all of us short names because he thinks it's convenient and easy (no hassle when it comes to filling up forms!).

When I was in school, my name was always either mispronounced or mis-spelt. I often had to spell my name out to teachers or correct them when I'm called out in class. I hated my dad for giving me such a different name. Why couldn't he give me a princess-y name like Ariel or Sarah or Jasmin or Melissa or something?! Why did he have to name me after a Palestinian freedom fighter? Why, Dad, why?!

But years later, I've come to appreciate my short 4-letter name and Dad's right-filling up forms is easy peasy, doesn't take ages and I never, ever run out of those darn boxes for letters on forms.

I also like how it doesn't really reflect my ethnicity (especially in a country where you're grouped by your ethnicity) and how my name has a different meaning in different languages. It means purple in German, lilac in French, night in Arabic and divine play in Sanskrit.

Thanks Dad for what I think is now a lovely name!