The Story of My Name

My name is Amelia Eve Dullea Adiletta. Well, that's my official name, though I'll go by Amelia Adiletta in school. Eve and Dullea are my middle names. My mama wanted to name me "Eve" before I was even a bean in her belly (they called me the "bean"). She thought it was a beautiful and spiritual name, and the name of the first woman in the bible. Daddy liked it, but one day mama asked him what he thought of when he heard the name Eve. He said it sounded sultry and something else that made mama pause. Amelia wasn't in the running during my bean days, because mama thought it was a mouthful with Adiletta. She loved the name, though. Amelia reminded her of adventure and strength, like Amelia Erhart and another Amelia woman with whom mama travelled across the country, shot machine guns, and climbed mountains. Daddy told mama it reminded him of a field of wildflowers. That image stayed with her. Aunt Molly encouraged mama not to dismiss the name, that it sounded melodic with Adiletta. Anyways, I was likely to be named Eve until the moment of my birth. Mama and Daddy both thought of one name when they first looked at me - Millie. Its a nickname for Amelia, and somehow came to both of their minds. They took two days to name me, mostly because mama still loved the name Eve, and eventually decided that Amelia Eve was a beautiful, playful, powerful and spiritual name. Last name was another issue. Its important to mama to be progressive as a Generation X woman. Every generation, she says, shapes the world for the next generation. That would be me. Daddy supported mama in including Dullea, even if it meant hyphenating. That would be too much of a mouthful for me, though, so they snuck Dullea in there as a middle name. When I'm old enough, I can choose whether to keep it or not. But, either way, I am both a Dullea and an Adiletta, and proud of it. Mama likes to say that I'm gonna "add a letta" love to this world, and that will be my legacy. Get it?! She's goofy sometimes.

(Update: Mama and Daddy are considering dropping the Dullea and just calling it the 'silent D factor'. They just don't want me to be confused. We'll keep you updated!)