One Minute Writer #45

Write the story of why you were given your name. (If you don't know, write about how you feel about your name.)

This is a story I have told many people before - as far as I know it, it is a true story. When I was born, my parents had different ideas of what they wanted to name me. My mom wanted to name me Stephanie while my dad thought my name should be Jennifer. My dad thought of the very clever idea of having my older brother, then 3 years old, Tyler make the final decision. I say this was a clever idea since he was certain that his little boy would side with him and I would be named Jennifer. In fact, as hard as he tried, Tyler couldn't say Jennifer, I believe the J sound was stumping him, and as such, I was given the name Stephanie. Cute huh?
I do not know how I got my middle name, Marla, and despite how much I hated it while I was growing up, I no longer mind it. Unfortunately it means "bitter one" and when combined with my first name, which means "crowned one", my name gives me the impression of a bitter, possibly spoiled, royal child. But all of that is made up by my last name, which is awesome and essentially means "place where water meets sand".