My name given me at birth was “Linda.” It was a popular name in the 1940s when I was born because of a famous movie star “Linda Darnell”. Who was she you ask? “Linda” in Spanish means “pretty” but I never felt particularly “pretty” growing up as a tomboy-angly, tall, super skinny (5 feet 9 inches and 110 pounds), shy, quiet, an only child, a teenager who wore glasses. Ballet lessons were my salvation, when at age fifteen I learned to move more gracefully and built my self confidence through performing on stage (although because of my tallness I always danced in the back row. No pas de deux or dance with a partner for me when I was dancing on my toes.)
As an adult, I took control of my name following the example of my parents by shortening my first given name from “Linda” to “Lin”. My dad named “Stanley” had been called “Stan” and my mom “Evelyn” had become “Eve”, so I “Linda” became legally “Lin” when I got divorced in 1992 and wanted to make a NEW START in my life with a NEW NAME. “Lin” which means “lake” or “waterfall” or “pool.” A nature name, I like that. Swan Lake was always my favorite ballet so perhaps I could think of myself as an elegant "swan." Tell me about your first name, what it means, how you got it and how you feel about it.
