Hillarie: Exploring the origins of your name

Re: Hillarie: Exploring the origins of your name

by Gina Bennett -
Number of replies: 0
Beth, you raised an interesting observation that our names can mean different things in different cultures, different languages. A couple of years ago I was working on a little curriculum project in Tanzania, & was being introduced to my Tanzanian colleagues. You know how introductions can go: one person extends their hand while saying their name & then you return with your own name. I got the strangest confused looks when I introduced myself. Turns out that "gina" means "name" in Swahili (spelled "jina" but pronounced the same). Addressing the confusion got us all chuckling.

So I digress too! But I guess we all have some stories about our names & I can see how this could be a productive icebreaker.