First, people usually make the common mistake of spelling my name Gina. Yes, my name is a variation of Gina, but my parents claim that Gena is the correct way it should be slept based off the sounding. Gina is more common in Italian, English and  Swedish cultures.  Maybe it’s because of their Jamaican accent but many pronounce it as Jenna . Even if you look in the dictionary the correct way of sounding it out is jee-nuh. Now that, that is out of the way, let’s continue on the literal meaning of my name.

 In zoology it means the lateral part of the head of an insect or other arthropod below the level of the eyes. In anatomy it means the cheek or side region of the head.  Gena as these nouns is pronounced as jee-nee. This originated from the Latin word meaning cheek. Complicated right? Well, so is my character. But mindless times when I ask my mother,( her name is  Zenia Alethea Agatha Gordon by the way) about the reason for  the name Gena she reminds me ; she’s horrible with names so she wanted something not complicated and  would be easy to remember. I don’t think my parents had the thought to name me Gena because of its anatomical meaning but now that I think of it; many people do like pinching my cheeks and I have this obsession with the side of my head. My profile always has to look “on point”. Hairstyles could look amazing in the front but if the side doesn't  it’s going to have to go. Weirdly though I’m not a fan of extenuating my cheeks with blush.

Still continuing on my first name, Gena, based off many name meaning and even my Chinese name means queen, noble and well born. All the memories of doing the princess wave to my friends on a regular basis just came to mind. As a child I was and still am mature. I myself try to be humble and quiet, but it looks like my name has destined me to be something nobler! I hope that plays out in the future.

Continuing onto my middle name; Alethea. It’s the same middle name as my mother’s first middle name. Alethea is a female given name: from a Greek word meaning “truth.” I still have to figure out how that coincides with my character but once again the struggle continues the pronunciation. Hence my parent’s accents, it’s pronounced ali-thee-uh but true English speakers pronounce it as al-uh-thee-uh. My mother passed down this name to me because her second middle name ‘Agatha’ was her aunt’s first name. I personally love it and am determined to name my daughter it as well.

 Finally, unto Gordon. This is my father’s last name that originates from Ireland, England, Scotland, Russia and Poland. My family is originally from Jamaica but the origin of the last name makes sense. The entire countries listed were active in the Britain’s slave trade and ruling in the West Indies. Most likely, Mr. Gordon owned a plantation in Jamaica and named his slaves with the same last name.

As you can see, my first name, the shortest part of my name was the most complicated literally, my middle name was a part of a family tradition and my last name goes along with my history. As I researched deeper and deeper into it, it got more and more complicated. Personally I’m trying to learn about myself as an individual which is complicated in my teenage year’s .Hopefully I can find out more about myself through my name.