Monday, February 16, 2015

The Girl With Two Middle Names

My name is Katia Frances- Lee Koerner.
When my parents found out I was a girl my mother wanted to name me Katerina and my father wanted to name me Knottia (an extremely German name). They decided on Katia because it kind of incorporated both of the names they wanted and is extremely German (I am over 70% of German heritage and this is important to my family and I).
My parents decided to give me the middle name Frances- Lee because Frances is the middle name of my grandmother on my mom's side and Lee is the middle name of my grandpa on my mom's side both of these names have been the middle names of my relatives for generations and hold significance in my family.
It's a name with many meanings and complications.
It's a name that is unique and strong.
I once hated my name: no one could say it, only ridiculous family's give their children two middle names, and I didn't think it fit me.

Now I know differently.

Literal Meaning
Katia: Pure, Unsullied
Frances: From France, French or free man
Lee: Healer, meadow or wood, lion, poetic, shelter, famous bearer
Koerner: (a German name), miller or grain merchant/ administrator

My Meaning
I think that my name says a lot about me, I think of the word pure for my first name and I think of being honest, truthful, independent and powerful. I think of my middle name Frances- Lee and I think of being a free and independent think and as someone who can hold as much leadership, poise and prowess as a lion in the jungle. I think of my last name in terms of being a very German family and a very hard worker.

I used to hate my name because no one could say it and it just seemed so unnecessarily complicated but now I think my name is a very HUGE part of my identity and I can't imagine my name being anything else.

I decided to post about my name this week because I am currently applying for a Social Media internship through my university's Greek Life office and I was thinking about how much a name can impact the way you are viewed, even before the interview and before meeting in person. This got me thinking about social media and how important it is that we portray ourselves professionally and how we want to be perceived online.

1 comment:

  1. I'm glad to see you finally embraced your name(s)! Heritage is a strong bond and most certainly helps define where you came from, as well as who you are today! My last name was a point of ridicule when I was in elementary school as well, but I feel children will find ways to tease about most anything. Taking that, and turning it into a point of pride, is a very powerful thing indeed!

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