In the year of 2001, my mother and father, Jamie and Marlan Harden, were sitting down thinking of a name for their upcoming child. That child of course, is me. They wanted my name to be some type of mix between the both of their names.  They decided on putting together the first part of my mother’s name and the last part of my father’s name.  Once they figured out how they wanted my name to sound, they had to figure out how to spell it.  There is a napkin in the family photo album that shows different ways to spell my name.  The napkin is from my mother trying to see which way looked the best to her.  She finally decided on “Jalynn”.

      My name means someone who is strong, driven, and has some attitude. My grandmother would tell me stories about how sassy I was as a child.  She told me about a time that she called me “Jaysha” and in response I told her she was only allowed to call me “Jalynn” or “Jay Jay”.  It’s evident that I’ve lived up to the name. 

      When I was younger I didn’t hear about many other girls named Jalynn.  It made me feel like I was given a boy name.  I was taunted by kids my age and it made me feel insecure about my name.  As I grew up though, I started to realize that having a name that wasn’t so common made me unique. All the thoughts of changing my name left around when I hit high school.  I didn’t care anymore if it sounded like a “boy name”. 

      I also used to hate the way my name was spelled.  Growing up, people always assumed my name was spelled either “Jaylnn”, “Jaylynn”, or “Jalen”.  I would always get so tired of having to correct people when they spelled my name wrong.  Eventually I just stopped correcting people unless it was absolutely necessary.  It wasn’t until I was about 16 years old that I realized that having a name that no one else has is actually a great thing. 

      I believe my name is perfect for me.  I couldn’t imagine having any other name.  It fits my personality and my appearance.  Often times, when I look at someone, I think of many other names besides their own that would fit them.  For instance, my friend Margaret could definitely pass as a Brooke or even a Tiffany.  Both names would fit her better than Margaret.  When I look at myself in the mirror, there isn’t any other name that I think would fit me besides my own. 

      My name came from a place deep within my parents’ hearts. I’ve gone through a love-hate relationship with it though.  I went from loving it as a toddler to hating it as a pre-teen.  Now, as a teenager nearing adulthood, I believe no other name would suffice.  I am proud to have such a unique name with a beautiful story behind it.  I am proud to be Jalynn Harden.