My Name

My name like (sometimes) me, is weird. I have never been teased about my name before. When I was young I really didn't care that I was called Rizal but when I grew up I started to realize how dull and uncommon my name was... among my school friends of course. But for consolation I have never never been teased about my name. Probably because I have been going to private schools my whole life. But still even if I went to public schools it would be hard to tease me about my name. Why you ask? because for starters name teasing is usually all about rhyming and you have to admit, Rizal you have to admit does not rhyme with anything so I am safe from teasing. Secondly my name has no meaning... that surprised you didn't it? well I'm going to surprise you again, no one in my family comes from the Philippines but have you guessed it yet? My name is from the Philippines!

So I'm safe from teasing right? I should be happy right? Well you're wrong. You may not be able to tease me about my name but you can say it wrong in a THOUSAND different ways! I mean someone even called me Brazil once! And to make matters worse sometimes the wrong way people say my name stick to me and becomes one more nickname to add to my already vast collection/ Another odd thing about my name is that there's another version of it! Rizzy! And no it's not a nickname or anything, it's a real name from the Philippines a REAL name!

But now that I've gotten even OLDER I guess I like my name and the fact that I have so many nicknames makes me unique! So I guess I really do like my name but I still wish there were some more famous people that had the name! But other tan that it's a great name!

Now for the story of how I got my name. My mom was pregnant with me and my dad had just come home from the Philippines or more specifically Manila. He had named me after a guy called Jose Rizal, a polymath Nationalist who was considered Philippines greatest hero. He heard the name while coming home and decided that he would name me Rizal...why? No not because it was a great hero's name but because he liked it.

Well at least my surname has a meaning. Zakaria means remembered by god. Origin: Muslim. It is used in 7 different countries! (no reapeats) I like it because it is so sharp. I have never had any problems with this name, and there aren't that many ways to say it wrong. I will like it no matter how old I get. It's a good name but unlike Rizal, in Malaysia Zakaria is a pretty common name. There's even another way to spell it Zakariah, so it's really easy to get me mixed up with someone else. In elementary my sister (who obviously has the same surname I do) got mixed up with someone else and whenever my mom put money in her swipe card the money always went to someone else. That is of course until my mom had a talk with the front office that is. So I guess what i'm trying to say is that after you get used to them my names are great! (and not that wierd either, and neither am I!)