Xavier - Several small factors influenced me in choosing this as my first name. I've always liked the name. I like the fact that it's not too common but still pronouncable at first glance. I like the fact that it starts with an X #1 because I have an obsession with fairness and equality and I felt the letter X was grossly underrepresented and #2 X seems like a strong letter to me. It's balanced, both feet on the floor, symetrical, and strong (/manly) like when it's used in "x-treme" or "x-games" or... "xxx". Either way it seems to connote passion.
Jahmaal - One of my favorite movies growing up (and now) is Sister Act II. In it there is a kid sitting in the 3rd row of the left-most column. The teacher calls for Wesley and he corrects her saying he goes by (my spelling is not right i'm sure) "Jamal Unjomo Jamaya" which means "he who is spirited". He gave the explanation that his name birth was comprised of a first name given to him by his assimilationist parents and that his last name was inherited from the owners of his ancestors so he preferred his new name. From that I chose this name for two reasons: 1) I wanted to capture what the full name meant and 2) I wanted something which connected me to my roots. My birth name was actually a West African name but I didnt exactly feel a connection to "beautiful flower". Moving on to...
Rasheed - In addition to my roots, I wanted something that would connect me to God. Rasheed is one of the 99 beautiful names of Allah. Now I'm not Muslim but we have the same God, just a different way of worshipping. The name is actually "al-Rasheed" which means "lover of virtue". Rasheed by itself (without the "al" part) means "rightly guided". So to me it means "rightly guided by a lover of virtue". As I said, I'm extra sensitive to equality but also to other virtues and Lord knows I need to be guided. It also reminds me of a very true, very relevant scripture which goes, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5 KJV
Omari - This is a much longer blog than I anticipated but I said I'd get to it, so I am getting to it. This one means "God the Highest". Plain, simple, and self-explanitory.
DaVonn - This is actually my legal middle name. It's pretty androgynous (I am much too tired for spell check right now). I decided to keep it for 4 reasons (yes more lists. I know you love them): 1) My mom came up with it because her two sisters names are Denise and Yuvonne so she smushed them together and bam! There you go. I love my aunts so I wanted them to still feel like they were important in my life. 2) I wanted my mom to feel she had some input in my new life as well as a reminder that I'm still the same person regardless of my gender. 3) I plan on either being a music producer, a film scorer, or both and it was part of my original pseudonym (fake/modified name). 4) ...maybe there were only 3...oh no! I remember now. My parents, but my mom in particular, are very old testament in the sense that some issues they value more loving thy neighbor. I'm not sure if they'll want me to be a part of their family so I like DaVonn as a last name to fall back on but for now its hyphenated.
Heidelberg - My government name.
So thats my name! Here are some of the sites I used:
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