Emily Feuka
Name: Emily Rose Feuka
Age: 20
Born: 1995, Maine
Emily was the 3rd most popular female baby name in 1995, making up 1.2690% of female babies born in the US.
According to Social Security data bases, 131 Emilys were born in Maine in 1995.
Do you like your name?
"I do. I think each part of it carries a different part of my identity. I speak Arabic and I study Arabic culture, and I know that in Arab culture names have different significance. Family name is more important in an Arab culture, whereas in an American culture where I grew up, we have a family name, but it’s not nearly as important. So, as I’v been studying other cultures I’ve come to appreciate [the different parts of my name.] Feuka is Czechoslovakian and it’s a part of my history we don’t really talk about, but it’s there and it’s something important about me. And my first name is completely mine out of my four sisters. We all obviously have different first names, but we’re all connected by that last name, so I see [my first name] as a real differentiating point of my identity. And then my second name, Rose, is also kind of family linked. It’s always been passed around among my fathers side. That is a point of pride, a little bit, that I got the family name. All three parts hold a distinct part of me."
Do you have any experiences in which the popularity of your name has either bothered or helped you?
"Not particularly. Not bothered. I can’t think of a time when I was ever bothered by it. You know, there’s alway the superficial annoyance when someone calls a very common name and you all turn your head, but that’s not something to be annoyed about. It’s just, that’s life, I guess.
"It’s kind of helped me, actually: I speak arabic, and I went to Jordan this past summer. And when I was there there were two Emilys, me and another student. The American students and the [Jordan] students wanted to differentiate between us, which was nice in itself. They didn’t want to just treat us like we were “The Emilys.” So they were like, 'Okay, whats your second name?' and I said, 'Well, my middle name’s Rose,' and they said 'Okay, we’ll call you Warda,' which means like flower or rose in Arabaic. And I was like, 'That’s a beautiful name! I have a nickname!' Actually, a lot of my friends just know me as that. In that way, it was an identity that came out of a common name, and I really appreciate that."
Do you agree that society feels a "need for uniqueness"? Have you ever felt this?
"In American culture specifically, yeah, I would agree with that. We not only strive for independence, but society projects images of independence onto us, even from a really really young age. I do agree that it exists in our society, but there are ups and downs to that. We are creating an older generation without younger children to care for them. And that’s obviously a downside to that problem. But, at the same time, individuals who pursue their passions, what they’re really really interested in, truly creates more productive members of society. So, I think we need to strike a balance, where you can be individual in some cases but you need to respect the ideals of social interaction, familial ties."
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?
"On an evolutionary level, we all require sameness, or are hardwired to believed that in a group we feel safe, but in modern day society, that’s not exactly as relevant. It’s more just led to things like discrimination, where we see us and them and the “them” must be inherently bad, or at the very least different. And so I think identifying on superficial qualities, such as skin color or language can be detrimental. But, on the converse, if we identity with things, or find a sameness in positive qualities like our passions, we’re gonna grow and thrive in an environment where people think like us. I think that’s a positive attribute. Overall, I’m an optimistic person, so I’d tend to say that sameness is okay, but I think we have to self-monitor our groups and make sure we’re not becoming exclusive."
Which do you think is more important, uniqueness or sameness?
"To be honest, it’s a close tie, but I would advocate for sameness a little bit. I think our society does emphasize individuality a little too much, to the point where arrogance is a problem. Stepping on other people just to get what you want has become a problem, at least in American society, as I view it. So I think a bit of a backtrack, a return to more social values, just understanding and identifying with people on a more emotional level, on something deeper than what we collectively group around now, I think that’s important. So I’d actually lean with sameness, even thought that’s not what we see today."
