- My name is Jean-Luc.
- My first name is Amhad.
- My name is Wajmah.
- My name is Fazeelat.
- My name is Nicolas.
My friends call me Nico.
- My name is Heaven, like the noun from the Bible,
which my parents wanted.
My Starbucks name is "Heben".
- It's "Faz".
- Mary.
- Amed.
- Jon.
- Nick.
- Like many immigrants, my name is an issue.
When I came to America from Ethiopia
it was spelled H-E-B-E-N
and because once you get American papers
you don't question things.
- It feels like what it must have felt like for
people who were arriving at Ellis Island
and they were called, I don't know, like,
"Simon Runaleski" and suddenly they were "Simon Smith".
- It's just a natural part of being a sort-of immigrant
with a different name in America.
- I had an English teacher who was from Texas
who thought I was from Mexico
and I let her call me "Wahmah" for a year.
- I want people to be comfortable.
It's like I don't want anyone to feel like
my name is a burden.
- My whole life I've been mispronouncing my name
to accommodate other people.
- I usually don't correct them.
I usually let them go with "Nick".
It just seems easier at this point.
- I'm pretty used to it at this point.
I accept that people don't like to work very hard.
- Oh no, I correct them.
I think it's a form of respect to actually try to find out
how somebody's name is pronounced.
- I can either correct you or
be called by a name that is not my name.
and both options kind of suck.
- Well, I think that they are probably not ill-intentioned.
It's easy to become convinced that it's not important.
It should be the person who is learning the name
who should be making the effort.
- You can just genuinely tell when someone's
putting in an effort and when they're not.
I make mistakes all the time.
It's not like I've never mispronounced
someone's name wrong.
So, I'm totally, like, understanding.
- It's been so difficult and complicated
introducing myself throughout my life.
I've come to accept that
I'll have at least three pronounciations
that follow me around.
- Moving around so much as a kid
it was always really hard to fit in
and my name made it a lot harder.
- I think, when you're a kid,
people kind of make fun of you.
Like, "washer" or "wash me". (laughs)
I used to get so mad
when I was a kid when people made fun of my name
and a little bit of that still sticks with me.
- I like my name more now than when I was a kid.
I've grown into the name.
I think it took years of people telling me
I had an interesting name for me
to realize I should be proud of it.
- I love my name.
I can't wait to just go by "Heaven" like "Madonna".
- Some people call me "Apollo" but not really.
That's not, like, really like a thing.
That's just like a thing I want to happen.