What's in a Name? "Kelnisha" - Remember Who You Are

 

One's name is very important. It defines/shapes who you are and who you may become. A mother and father usually don't take naming a baby lightly and they shouldn't. They ponder for weeks, even months on what the coming baby should be called. They take gender into consideration. "If it's a girl, we'll name it this...If it's a boy we'll name it that." Have you ever pondered over your name?

The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said, "On the Day of Resurrection you will be called by your names and your father's names. So give your children good names." (Bukhari).

I think for a moment about my name as I have numerous times throughout my life. "Mommy, where did you get my name from?" She explained, "In high school, when I was dating your dad and dreaming of our life I wrote your name in my notebook. At first, I was going to name you Kelvinisha, but thought it was too much. So I settled for Kelnisha. The 'Kel' is from your father Kelvin's name and the 'Nisha' is what every Black woman in the '80s was naming their babies."

That explanation was fine with me, but I found that people struggled to pronounce my name. With my hands on my hips I would instruct them to break it down into three syllables "Kel-Knee-Sha". They would get lazy and ask me if I had a nickname and could they shorten it and perhaps call me "Nisha" instead. "Nope. It's pretty simple. Repeat after me. Kel-knee-sha," I would instruct them. LOL. I had a lot more moxy at seven years old than I do now at 38. 

Eventually my first love would give me a nickname. The only person in life up until that time that I allowed to do so. It was summertime NY, 2003. He would give me the nickname "Young Kelz". I absolutely adored it. I loved it because it paid homage to the most significant part of my name "Kel", which was taken from my father Kelvin's name. I smiled and said "Cool. I'll take it." :-)

For some reason, after my dad passed away I began to think about my name again. Probably because I'm trying to remember who I am. What makes up / defines this person. Who is she? What is she made of? I need those qualities to help me get through the tough times. 

This thought took me down a rabbit hole starting with the Book of Genesis in the Holy Bible. Stay with me. This still relates to my name. 

So, the first part of my name is from my father's name. I began to think of genetics. A woman has two X chromosomes (XX) and a man has an X and a Y chromosome (XY). Then I began to think about how traits flow from the mother and father to their child. One of my X chromosomes comes from my mother. It's packed with traits from her, her mother, her mother's mother all the way back to Eve.  The other X chromosome comes form my father. It's packed with traits from him, his mother, his mother's mother all the way back to Eve and theoretically from Adam, since Eve came directly from Adam. However, I do not get any traits directly from my father's father or any of the men's line because those traits are in his Y chromosome which me being a female, I did not receive. Only his male children would receive those masculine, male traits. 

Now, going back to my name "Kelnisha", if  you break it down "Kel" means nothing until you put it in context. To me, Kel means "A part of Kelvin". I looked up the Hebrew word for "woman" in the Bible. It is אִשָׁה . The English transliteration is "Isha". It means wife/woman. What's even more coincidental is the word for woman in Arabic is "Nisa". Arabic and Hebrew have similar linguistic origins. Sound-wise, Nisa and Isha are not too far off when you say them aloud.

So who am I? I am KELNISHA. I am a woman that is a part of Kelvin. I am the female version of Kelvin. This is who Allah Azza Wajal (God, the Most High) destined me to be. However, I only take the best of my father's attributes. I am a better version....or at least I CAN be a better version of him if I try. That is who I am metaphysically. I'm also destined to be a wife. More importantly, I am a creation of God, the best of his creations which gives me a lot of innate dignity.

Remember who you are. My call to action is for you to break down your name, go into your history, and remember who you are. Your ancestors passed down the best of themselves for you to be able to survive. Your Creator put that into you, but it's up to you to activate it. So that you can thrive and not just survive. Let's go!