My display name on all of my profiles is Emma Cathy Smith. ‘Emma Cathy’, however, is not my first name; it’s actually my preferred name. Here’s why I made the change.
My name, historically, has a lot of meaning to my family. All of my names (including my middle names) pay homage to powerful women who have made our family who it is, and I have a huge respect for them. I’m honored to carry their names and their legacies with me.
With that being said…Emma Smith on its own looks kinda boring. Emma was the most popular baby name for years (making it a commonly used name), and Smith has always been the most classic last name in the book. I just felt that my name, on it’s own, was pretty bland. It doesn’t truly encompass the person behind it; my name doesn’t show off my uniqueness. It’s easy to look over and easy to forget.
With that in mind, I started to think of ways to jazz it up while still being authentic to the original meaning. I didn’t want to touch Emma – as much as I loved the thought of being called ‘Emmanuelle’ (which was an option at the time), the name meant too much on it’s own. I could never change that. So, I decided to add to it.
One of my middle names, Catherine, seemed to be the easiest to worm into my name. My inner 4-year-old princess squealed at the thought of being called ‘Emma Catherine’. (It sounds pretty royal, right?) However, as I thought about it, it just looked…too formal. It didn’t suit who I am. It was elegant and rich and implied a very…’uptight’ aura, it that makes sense. Either way, I didn’t want attached to my persona. So…I decided to shorten it. Instead of ‘Emma Catherine’, I went with ‘Emma Cathy’.
I wish I knew why I finally settled on that, but I honestly don’t. It just felt right – it added depth to my name while still alluding to my artistic side. Especially when signed in my overly flowy script, it totally encompasses who I am and who I want to be. I want to stand out. I want to be unique. I want to leave my mark on the world and I want it to be as positive as possible. All of those emotions are channeled into my name, Emma Cathy Smith.
I started officially calling myself Emma Cathy during my sophomore year of high school. I want to say it was during Geometry class…as I was still mulling the change over, I decided to just try it once and see how it looked. So, instead of copying down the problem on the board, I just tried it once. It looked fitting on the top of the page. I tweaked my handwriting a bit to make sure I liked the stylization, and I officially fell in love after that. I haven’t signed my name as anything else since then.
Now, to address the looming question in the room; ‘do I have to call you that‘? The answer is no – at least, not if you don’t want to. I understand that it’s a mouthful. Most people don’t want to say two syllables, much less four. However, regardless of whether or not you verbally call me that, I appreciate being acknowledged as such.
What does that mean? If I sign my name as ‘Emma Cathy Smith’, I’d prefer to see that on any forms or programs in which my name is mentioned. I understand – legally, that’s impossible sometimes (example; my diploma or any honors certificates). However, as this is the name that’s on all of my professional profiles, I’d love to keep it consistent.
Thanks for reading, and I hope this cleared up a lot! Until my next post…EmC, out!
Emma Cathy Smith 