My name is Rayne Bair, yes, it really is. Here’s the story. Rayne (pronounced like rain) is actually my middle name, but it wasn’t always. My maiden name is Alburquerque. With a last name that long, my parents didn’t feel the need to give me a middle name. That was more than enough for a 4-5 year old to learn to spell. So I grew up with no middle name. When I got to college, I was finally fed up with people butchering my first name, Arenys (I pronounce it in English as ah-ray-ness or ah-reh-ness). Arenys is actually a little town in Spain. But anyway. You can see how that would be really hard to figure out. I struggled my whole life with mispronunciation and name calling. So when I got to college, I told everyone my name was Rayne (you can hear the sound in my first name). And that stuck.
I met my husband my sophomore year of college and his last name is Bair (like bear). I really thought he was joking when he first told me. Especially after he told me his sister’s name is Cinnamon, really! We dated all through college and when it came time to get our marriage license, I went to the Judge of Probate and petitioned to change my name to include Rayne officially as a middle name. So when I married, I became Arenys Rayne Bair. And all my friends and family now know me as Rayne.
Did you choose your name? If so, how?
I did something similar, but with a slight variation. My last name is technically my middle name, but in 2006, I legally changed it to be my last name. I was divorced in 2004, and I had kept my ex-husband’s name so that I would continue to have the same last name as my children. However, after time went by, and I was a year away from graduating from college, I was faced with the decision to keep his last name or change it. I was thinking about what name I wanted on my diploma. I didn’t want to use my maiden name, Beecroft. Having my first and last names butchered my entire life wasn’t something I wanted to go through again. Plus it was like going back in time. I like to move forward, not look back. My mom is an artist, and she effervescently suggested that I use Michelle as my last name (she originally wanted that to be my first name, but my dad won with his choice: Yvonne). I thought, “Yeah. That’s easy. No one will screw that up:” So, I changed it. Now everywhere I go when someone asks my last name, and I tell them “Michelle” they say “no, your last name.” I say, “That is my last name.” When they say they’ve never heard that as a last name, I just reply “It’s French.” Haha! A lot of times people overlook my first name if they can’t pronounce it and just call me Michelle. Most of the time I don’t bother correcting them. According to the Social Security office, you can change your name a maximum of 10 times… so I have 7 more chances if I decide to ever change it again. I may go for Jane Smith someday.
Sounds like you traded in the butchering for a bit of confusion. But I like that you chose a name that represents yourself. I think everyone has issues with their name. Even a Jane Smith would probably have to spell or say her name several times for some folks to get it.
Haha, you’re probably right. I like my name. I don’t know that I’ll ever remarry, but I don’t think I’d want to change it again.