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I don’t know how many other people can say this, but throughout my life, I have always encountered people with the same first name as me. I recognize that my first name isn’t unusual, but I have often found myself in a work environment or a classroom with another Laura. If you include all the Lori’s, Laurie’s, and Lauren’s I’ve encountered then the coincidence grows even larger. Of course, Lori, Laurie, and Lauren aren’t the same as Laura, but when people first meet me they always want to call me one of the others instead of just Laura. I’ve never understood that. I say my name rather clearly.

I have found it interesting during the second leg of my recent trip which took me to Pennsylvania and then after my return that I kept running into other “Laura’s”. First of all, the friend I was going to visit, her name is Laura. Obviously, I knew this going in, but we have grown so close that we tend to forget that we carry the same first name. Maybe it is because we don’t have to call each other by name when we converse. We just start talking instinctually taking turns and knowing when the other is finished. We went out to dinner and we each gave the waitress a credit card and instructions. When the waitress came back, she indicated that the instructions were easy but the difficulty came in that we shared the same first name. She was joking, but it became clear to me that in our friendship that little detail no longer came into play. It’s funny, because when her husband called her by name, I knew he wasn’t talking to me and when we use to work together the same was true. When someone would ask Laura a question, based on the question being asked, I knew they weren’t talking to me because we had different levels of expertise.

On the outside, we couldn’t be more different. I am black and she is white. I am petite and she is tall. I am even a few years older than she is, but in other areas we are so similar it is a little scary. We have nearly identical political views and interests. We have the same questions regarding human nature and we are both creative. While our passions have taken us on different journeys, we are both very ambitious.

When I arrived home, I quickly had to complete some paperwork for a project and have them notarized. When I walked into a local bank, something I rarely do, the notary was also named Laura. It got me to thinking about names and if they have any influence on the type of people we become. Certainly people with unique names turn out to be equally unique in nature and people with popular names are constantly trying to stand out among the rest. These examples may have more to do with how we interact with our environment as we carry our names that the result of the name itself.

Think about your name and the impact it has had in your life. Also consider the names you encounter, it may not be as varied or as random as you think.

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