Do you believe in the importance of name?
I do.
I think my name is an essential aspect in my sense of individual identity.
What is my full name?
Guess.
Before I let you know my full name,
let me clarify why my name is an important aspect of my life and
reveal to you how well do you know me based on my name that you know.
My name is important because
1. I think my parents spent their entire 9 months thinking about it.
2. The meaning of my name is beautiful and to me, it gives me good luck
What is my full name?
Nur Aliah Syahmina Mohd Nazarudin
Nur means the light
Aliah means high, to ascend
Syahmina means the brilliant one
I am not sure about the meaning of dad's name: The last two names.
When I was in kindergarten till high school, people know me by the name of Aliah Syahmina.
Because there can't just be one Aliah in the school,
and it happened to be other peoples' names are just Aliah.
As someone who has a longer name, they call me, Aliah Syahmina.
The person who knows me by this name, they're my childhood friends,
the person who sees me grow from a little kid who would spend her money on paper dolls.
They knew what I had to go through in high school.
Since the rising of social media, I used the name "Aliah Nazamusa" as my socmed handle.
People from college and university, they call me Aliah Nazamusa
and even in the university club matters,
they will just use Aliah Nazamusa as my name.
But when they asked for full name for the formality and official university records,
I will correct them and tell them my full name.
Everyone would be very surprised and the first thing that came out of their mouths was
"Wow, it's so long!"
I'm never offended, I just got used to it.
It happened every time at the airport.
Different part of my name gives me different kind of vibes and 'spirit'.
For example, when I'm down and
I feel anxious about what's coming tomorrow, I will tell myself,
"It's okay, Aliah! You got this!"
When I want to pamper myself,
I will write myself a small cute note written
"Dear Aliah Syahmina, you've done enough. You should be proud of you."
When someone calls me by the name Syahmina, I feel more attached to the person.
But you know which name that people call me that give me strength and hope?
"Kakak".
My family ranges from my late great-grandparents
until the youngest cousins in my family call me "kakak".
"Kakak" is used to call the older sister.
In my paternal side of the family, I am the first granddauther
and I am the third one in my maternal side of the family, yet they still call me,
"kakak".
I think, because they call me kakak since my second sister was born,
I got used to the name. But the most important thing is that,
the name comes with heavy responsibility.
I always have to be the best "kakak" because I need to be a good example to my younger siblings.
I need to set the bar high, I need to achieve many goals.
If I can do it, my siblings will be motivated to achieve better goals than me.
Although it sounds heavy and it has many expectations to meet,
I appreciate being called "kakak" because I feel important.
Name makes me feel important.
It's not necessarily being recognized by the name,
it's the feeling of being appreciated and feel that I actually matter.
Why do couples call their spouses by sweet names?
Because the names they call indicate affection and love.
At least, that's what I feel.
And "Aliah Nazamusa" is like my alter ego.
Aliah is the dominant part of my name.
Why "Nazamusa"?
It's a combination of my dad's name and late grandfather's name.
Combining their names together and attach it to mine, makes a stronger person.
It's not that I'm being a completely different person, but she, Aliah Nazamusa, she's a brave person.
She goes out of her comfort zone, be on an adventure,
travels the world and she believes in herself more than anyone else did.
She has experienced many hatred comments, but she is still standing strong.
Those who know me by this name,
are either friends from university or they only know me for less than a year
and most likely they know me by the life I portraty on the socmed only haha.
Have you figured out where you stand?
Haha, don't take it personally. I value each part of my name.
I kinda don't like it when people misspell my name.
I don't mind when people misspell it for the first time,
but when people clearly have seen my name is spelled out as
"A-L-I-A-H" in my instagram handle or facebook name
and they still prefer to call me Alia.
No, it's not me.
Oh then again, don't feel bad.
At least, you know my name.
Some people just know me by "Oh that short girl in hijab" lol.
Hi, my name is Nur Aliah Syahmina Mohd Nazarudin.
Thank you for reading this.
