Chris Chiaravalli

Name: Christopher Robert Chiaravalli

Age: 20

Born: 1995, Michigan

Christopher was the 3rd most popular male baby name in 1995, making up 1.6248% of male babies born in the US.

Do you like your name?

"Yeah, I like my name. Actually, even though it’s a very common name, I’ve always felt like its unique to me. Every Chris is unique, and they assign whatever meaning to their name, to themselves, and other people see them unique. Like Chris Rock, Chris Tucker... Even though they’re both Chris they have a different connotation. Like me, Chris Chiaravalli, and another Chris that I know, we each have our own vibe, and I think that kind of like changes the meaning of our names."

Do you agree that society feels a "need for uniqueness"? Have you ever felt this?

"Well, I’ve never actually had to work for uniqueness. I’ve always kind of felt like I'm the outlier, especially in high school.I always felt like I was on the outside. I didn’t want to be associated with the people at my high school, so I just kind of naturally fell into place as a unique-and-didn’t-give-a-fuck-about-anybody kind of person."

Collective identity, or "sameness", has been shown to be felt as strongly and be equally as powerful as uniqueness. Do you agree that sameness can be powerful? Have you ever felt it as such?

"Yeah, with my friend group here in college and my family. I think with people you "run with", people you spend your life with, that sense of togetherness is very important. Like, similarity: you’ll each be within your group but there’s something, an umbrella of similarity that you all feel, which is why you go well together."

Which do you think is more important, uniqueness or sameness?

"I think both are important, but I think uniqueness is probably more important. Because... there’s something unique about every single person. Loving yourself and being unique and loving your uniqueness is one of the fruits of life, I think

."