We’ve all experienced that first day of school roll call struggle. You’re sitting at a desk, hearing your professor rattle off names, and then watch as they pause, begin to say the first syllable, and look up for help. One of your classmates speaks up, pronounces their uncommon name, and the day moves forward.
Junior Alaura Gage, Eoin Lyon, sophomore Seoirse Eamonn Weed, junior Antanas Laucius, and freshman Dagur Einarsson are all familiar with that first day of school struggle. When asked about their out of the ordinary names, they related common experiences of mispronunciations, but also appreciation for that piece of individuality.
Alaura Gage
“When you say your weird name to someone in a Starbucks, you just get this look of terror,” Gage said.
Gage was named after the protagonist in an 80s fantasy film titled “Willow.”
“The protagonist is this magical baby named Elora Danon,” Gage said. “My parents watched that movie, and they thought ‘Oh that’s a cool name, we should name our next daughter that,’ and that’s how I got my name.”
Two out of three of Gage’s siblings also have rare names.
“The first is named Evan, so that’s pretty standard,” Gage said “The next one is Alexan, then me, and then there’s Emma Elise.”
Growing up, Gage found that she never regretted having an uncommon name.
“I always really liked it. I think that’s because it’s just different enough, but it isn’t crazy. It isn’t impossible for people to understand,” Gage said.
Developing a passion for film at a young age, Gage is very passionate about the videography and film content for Hillsdale College’s online courses.
“Film is one of my favorite mediums of art and is why I’m pursuing an art major here. I guess you could say my life is nominative determinism at its finest,” Gage said.
Eoin Lyon
Lyon’s name is a product of his Irish heritage. Pronounced “Owen,” Lyon never found himself uncomfortable or frustrated with his unique name growing up.
“I got used to it really early, and so people mispronouncing it was just normal,” Lyon said.
Having siblings with other Gaelic Irish names, mispronunciations and unique spellings were a part of everyday life. All of Lyon’s siblings have Irish names, and most of them, like Patrick and Nora, are commonly spelled. But Lyon related that Sheilagh — pronounced “Sheila” — definitely was the most commonly misunderstood.
Growing up with this immersion into his Irish culture, Lyon explained that he picked up the cultural habit of wearing a kilt.
“I’m the guy people always see on campus wearing the kit,” Lyon laughed. “My family usually wears it when we go to Irishfest, my groomsmen will wear kilts at my wedding, out of all of my family though, I definitely wear it the most often.”
Due to his unique spelling, Lyon confessed that his professors have never pronounced his name right on the first try.
“They always pronounce it wrong. I tend to get ‘Ian’ a lot, and in highschool I just had a lot of nicknames,” Lyon said.
Seoirse Eamonn Weed
“My parents wanted to name me after my grandparents. One of my grandfathers is named George and the other is Edward,” Weed said. “Basically, Seoirse is the Gaelic equivalent of George and Eamonn is closest to Edward.”
An Irish Gaelic name, Eamonn means “wealthy protector.” With both of his parents being Irish, Weed explained that they really wanted their children to have Gaelic names.
“Both of my parents are from Michigan, and their names are Kevin and Karen,” Weed said. “They got really into their heritage when they were younger, went to Ireland on their honeymoon, and thought that the names were interesting.”
Describing his parents’ interest in their Irish heritage, Weed acknowledged that his name definitely made him more patriotic and proud of his family’s culture.
“All of my siblings have fairly Irish Gaelic names,” Weed explained. “And all of the boys go by their middle name, which is why everyone calls me Eamonn.”
Weed never found himself disliking his unique name, but he cannot remember a time when teachers pronounced it correctly on the first try.
“Being near the end of the alphabet, I would see teachers either pause and look up, or I would just raise my hand and tell them that I go by Eamonn,” Weed said.
“But it’s pretty fun. I never regretted having a weird first name, or a weird middle name, or a weird last name,” Weed laughed.
Antanas Laucius
Junior Antanas Laucius, known as Rob, explained how his unique name always stumped teachers—and especially Hillsdale College professors for a different reason.
“It’s funny seeing professors try to guess where it’s from,” Laucius said. “Dr. Rahe in my Ancient Greek class thought it was Greek, and Dr. Yost in an Early Middle Ages class thought it was Latin.”
Laucius was named after his grandfather who immigrated to the U.S. from Lithuania after World War II. Lithuania is a small country located between Germany and Russia that has its own Baltic language.
Yet Laucius never found his unique name a hindrance or annoyance.
“I never minded it. It’s always been something interesting that can be a conversation starter, which is a nice thing to fall back on,” Laucius said.
Dagur Einarsson
Dagur Einarsson is a freshman at Hillsdale College from Iceland. Einarsson sprints on the college’s track and field team and has yet to find a professor who can correctly pronounce his name.
“My name has a soft ‘g’ sound that Americans have trouble pronouncing,” Einarsson said. “Professors will try the first day, I’ll correct them, and then they’ll usually give up after a week or two. My Latin professor is actually still trying to pronounce it though, and I have to keep telling her it’s wrong.”
Upon his arrival in the fall, Einarsson showed up in Galloway with only two small suitcases, and introduced himself to his RA’s.
“I had to come here early because of flights, so I spent a lot of time with the RA’s, but they just found my name way too difficult to pronounce,” Einarsson chuckled. “They just came up with the nickname ‘Dags’ and it kinda stuck.”
Even though most Americans are unfamiliar with Einarsson’s name, it is common where he grew up.
“Dagur is a relatively common name in Iceland,” Einarsson explained. “It’s not like John or anything, but it’s standard.”
Einarsson revealed that it’s actually Icelandic last names that are the most interesting. Unlike Americans— who inherit the same last names as their fathers— Icelanders’ last names are constructed by adding the word “son” or “daughter” to their father’s first name.
“It’s actually kind of a coincidence,” Einarsson chuckled. “My sons’ last names will be Dagursson, which is very similar to my American nickname.”
