Off-Brand Hamzah
When my parents were first married, they watched an Islamic movie together about the life of the Prophet Muhammad's uncle, Hamza. He was kind, wise, and just a great guy. My parents found his story inspiring, and decided that their first child would be named after him, and thus reflect the same greatness that Hamza's life emitted. Unfortunately for them, I came first. I don't think they were expecting their first child to be a girl, because they had no ideas in mind for baby names besides Hamza. Thankfully, the internet existed. My dad did a quick Bing search for "baby girl names that sound like Hamza" and was able to come across the name they chose for me: Faizah.
My dad told me this story, of finding my name off of the internet, when I was about 7 years old. I didn't react very well. My brother (named Hamzah) had just been born, and I already didn't like him because I didn't like to share the spotlight. I had always thought of myself as the superior child because I was born first, and I assumed that my parents chose Hamzah because it was similar to my own name. But my world came crashing down when I realized that this wasn't the case. I remember giving my parents the silent treatment for an entire week after I realized that my name was a knockoff of my brother's, and not the other way around.
As I got older, I started to enjoy my name more and more. I have yet to meet someone my own age who shares the same name as me, and that uniqueness is something I have grown to love about my name. One downside, though, is that because not many people are familiar with my name, most of my teachers have a difficult time pronouncing it on the first try. This has led to some embarrassing first day of school moments. I think the first day of fourth grade was the most memorable for me. My teacher was calling off our names one by one, and then paused for a really long time. I knew it was because of my name. Finally, she called out, "Fraiser?" and 9-year-old me was so taken aback by this incredible mispronunciation of my name that I didn't even correct her. So for the rest of fourth grade, I was Fraiser.
At this point in my life, most people know how to say my name correctly. While 7-year-old me was unamused, 17 year old me finds it hilarious that I was named after my preteen brother. It feels like an appropriate origin story to my life. The name Faizah comes from an Arabic word which means success. I share it with a Pakistani squash player and a famous Arab singer. So the Prophet Muhammad's uncle is pretty cool, but I think I might have more to live up to.
I love the title and i find it interesting that as you grew up you began to like your name which is the same way I felt with my name
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely a unique situation! How many people do you know whose name is a knockoff of someone who hasn't even been born yet? I can definitely see a 7-year-old being annoyed with that, and it makes me wonder why your dad told you that story when you were already jealous of your brother and young enough to be selfish. However, I do think it makes for a good story, and I'm glad you think it's funny now.
ReplyDeleteYou're very brave for posting this, Faizah. Thank you for sharing. I didn't realize how uncommon of a name Faizah is. I grew up next door to a girl named Faizah, so I figured the name was commonish since I knew 2 Faizahs. Very cool!
ReplyDelete(Where did she get FRAISER?)
ReplyDeleteI love how you spin the story of your name with humor after being so angry about it when you were 7. You took the matter of your name into your own hands, and changed it into something you could reclaim. That's a really powerful message!
I also love your post because it hits so close to home (for me and probably a lot of other people who don't/didn't have traditionally Western names). That little pause when calling attendance on the first day is maybe one of the worse things in life, especially for a little kid.