Personal Narrative: My Name Alyssum

My Name My name comes from a flower. Not a Rose, not a Lily, but an Alyssum. An Alyssum flower, like me, is small, cute and usually used to complement other bigger flowers. I have always been in the background, never really stood out, and the only time I’m usually recognized is when people say I’m cute. The Alyssum flowers name comes from Greek origins meaning “sanity” and was formally thought to cure skin diseases. Going through my life and figuring out who I am has made me realize that I don’t have as firm a grasp on my sanity as I thought I did when I was little, but that’s okay. When I asked my mom about why she chose my name, she simply replied “Because I liked the name.” After asking her more about it, she told me that before I was born they didn’t know that I was a girl so they had to choose two names for the two possibilities. If I was a girl they would name me Alyssa but if I was a boy they would have named me Jacob. When I found out that I could have been named …show more content…
Most likely it’s because, statistically, the name Alyssa is the 818th most popular name in the world. Therefore, it must be heard pretty often. No one, after meeting me has ever said “Alyssa? That’s a pretty name.” It’s always made me feel like I’m sort of a plain Jane. Though, I’m happy with my name because there is almost no chance of anyone mispronouncing my name. The first time I ever met someone with the same name as me I was shocked. I was 8, I had just joined a new dance class and there was this girl that was younger than me who had the same name. I remember staring at her for the longest time thinking to myself “She doesn’t even look like an Alyssa. Why does she get to have my name?” I realize now that it’s not just my name but I’ve also realized that it is just my name. I respond to it, even though it’s just a mix of different sounds coming out of someone’s mouth. I’ve never really given any thought to the fact that that happens to