Hannah Butterworth

Name: Hannah Lee Butterworth

Age: 20

Born: 1995, Michigan

Hannah was the 7th most popular female baby name in 1995, making up 0.8856% of newborn female babies.

Do you like your name?

"I feel like it’s kinda been an evolution, because when I was younger, like in elementary school, middle schoo, I hated it because there were three other Hannahs. It’s kind of gotten worse from there, but I’ve kind of come to grips with the fact that like it doesn’t really matter how many people have your same name.. It’s not really that important. So I guess I like it… The palindrome aspect is pretty cool, I guess."

Have you had any experiences in which the popularity of your name has either bothered or helped you?

"I think it used to bother me when I was in elementary school because there were two other Hannahs in my class and so we had to say like Hannah B or Hannah W. That really bothered me because it made you different… Everyone else just went by their first name, but like you had to stick out by having your last initial. Kinda the same but also different."

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

"Yeah, definitely. I think that people express that in different ways, like in their clothing or hairstyle. I think that it is really important to some people that their name is really unique. I kind of feel like I’ve come past that--It isn’t as important to me as it used to be. I feel like everyone has the same desires like the same needs, and the feeling of being super unique shouldn’t be as important to people as it sometimes is."

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?

"I think that both of them are kind of dueling forces, almost. I think sameness can be kind of dangerous, though, because that can lead to a lot of exclusion and persecution and that kind of thing. I think it’s really important to recognize our uniqueness within sameness. You find things that are the same with somebody else so you can empathize, but you also should recognize how each and every individual person has something unique about them that should be celebrated."