A name is the first word anyone ever used to call you into being — the sound that, across your life, signals that you are being summoned. Different cultures invest the naming act with different significance: in some traditions names are given by ancestors, in others they are earned through action, in others they are changed at life thresholds. The experience of having one's name mispronounced, shortened to convenience, or replaced without consent is an experience of not being fully recognized — a small act with genuine identity consequences.
Juana