Me: Hello

Caller: May I speak with Natasha?

Me: This is NUH-stah-see-uh speaking.

Caller: Hello Natasha, I’m calling from….

Me: Good bye.

OR

Me *meeting new person: Hello my name is Nastassia (NUH-stah-see-uh).

New Person: NUH-WHAT?!?!?? What do people call you?

Me *thinking: I don’t know you. We literally JUST met. We ain’t friends…

Me: Nastassia.

Why are people so careless about other people’s names? Why are we so entitled to think that we can magically call people whatever we want to call them although we don’t know them. I believe these are all indicative of the selfish world that we live in today.

With a name like Nastassia, I’ve had my share of being teased and just downright disrespected when it comes to my name. I used to hate it. My name I mean. However, as I have matured into myself, I have learned to embrace my name and it’s meaning. I’m thankful because it gives me a difference perspective in how I deal with other people and their names…especially in my profession. I’ve been called the wrong names, intentionally, and people still misspell my name so often that I am meticulous about spelling and saying other people’s names correctly. Sometimes I get it wrong, but I apologize instead of brushing it off as insignificant because that has been done to me so often.

But today I am turning up about knowing who I am. I am NUH-stah-see-uh. Nastassia. An alternate form of Anastasia, which is Greek from the word anastasis. Resurrection is what it means. Resurrection. The coming back to life after death resurrection. I am Nicole, another word of Greek origin, meaning people of victory. So I will continue to live my best life as Nastassia Nicole. It has meaning of significance for me and my family. I will continue to correct people when they misspell or mispronounce my name.

What does your name mean?

Sincerely,

Resurrection. People of Victory.