Chris Salem

Name: Christopher Basam Salem

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?

"I love it. I only just started realizing that [it's a common name] in the past couple of years. I just have always answered to it; I never had a problem with it. I think it's a cool name. I like meeting anyone whose name is Chris. I'm just like, "Woah, that's the best name, right?!" But its funny, because I met someone who said they don't like their name, and I couldn't imagine that. The only thing I don't like about my name is that it's very common. It's one of the most common male names, I think. But I identify with the name Chris a lot, and I think that's all that matters. Like, no matter what your name is, you've been called that your entire life. So, it doesn't have to do with the name, it has to do with what you associate with your name."

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

"It's definitely helped me, because when people would ask my name and I'd say 'Chris,' there'd be no other questions. Other people with more ethnic names, it's harder for them. Like, one of my friend name's is Ajay. He changed his name to AJ, but his Indian name is Ajay, and no one could do it right. I'd be like, 'Why are you making your name AJ?!' and he was like 'You don't understand,' and I don't. I don't understand.

"It's annoyed me, just when there's five other Chrises in a room, or when almost everywhere I go there's another Chris. If I'm involved with something, there's most likely going to be another Chris. So when somebody says, 'Oh, Chris did that,' and I'm like, 'What?' and they're like, 'Oh, not you,' I just feel like 'Oh, so I'm just the other Chris now.' But anyone who is in the same room with someone who has the same name is going to feel that, so again I think that the spelling, the letters, don't matter."

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

"Of course I've felt that need. Everyone should say yes to that, hopefully. And I do think in some ways I have believed that maybe my name threatens that, because it's so common. But it's only been a fleeting thought. [The number of Chrises] boggles my mind in the sense that there are other people who can take my name and turn it into something completely opposite of what I believe it to be.

"I'm bad with names, so when someone tells me their name I almost immediately forget it. I'm starting to try to fix that, but I actually like that a lot. If you know someone because they're named something, you're knowing them the wrong way. You know someone by the say they look and the way they act, more importantly the way they act. Their name shouldn't matter."

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, absolutely. Definitely in the sense of being perceived as a white male. That's kinda what I am, perceived in that sense; I have a strong ethnic background. My parents were born in Iraq and I'm Iranian. I like to identify with that a lot, but I'm perceived as a white male. So I get all the privilege of being a white male, and that's very empowering. I'm starting to notice it a lot more now that I think about it. With great power comes great responsibility. It's powerful, yes, it gives you a lot of privilege, but it's almost empowering in a bad way, because [when you're in a privileged group, you] just assume everything, because you're around so many people who have already thought about things. You don't have to go through that thought process, you just get the privilege of knowing it and having it."

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

"Definitely uniqueness, because you can be within a group and still be unique. That's what makes a group better: unique people."