Essay: My First Name

Call Me Caelon

By Caelon Reed
QuailBellMagazine.com

A family friend gave my parents the idea for my name, but it was my mother who casually decided the spelling, Caelon. 

According to the MyBaby, my name means “carefree, the lark bird.” “Carefree” fits me precisely. I try to live without worries as much as possible. I chose this lifestyle because my mom has always taught me to focus on the positives of ANY situation; that way of thinking has shaped me into an optimist. I might as well add that my favorite song of all time happens to be Bob Marley’s hit “Don’t Worry Be Happy."

Wikipedia defines a lark bird as “a person who usually gets up early in the morning and goes to bed early in the evening.” I can somewhat vouch this as true because I start my mornings no later than 9 a.m. (pretty early for a college kid), though I don’t always make it to bed at a decent hour. It has always been my hope that my actions and personality stick out more than my name. Not that I dislike my name. I am very thankful to attach such an exclusive name to my works—regardless of how folks pronounce it.

My name was unintentionally butchered throughout the entirety of grade school. Surprisingly, I was never the person to be upset at anyone who mispronounced my name (well, at least not after the first few tries). I always had the perk of not needing to include my last name on most papers because my first name would never get mixed up with another student's. It was a pain, however, not to be able to conveniently purchase pre-made name paraphernalia. After numerous jobs requiring name badges, I learned that my name is a great conversation starter. Many people have found great joy in playing “guess the pronunciation” with my name. 

This lark bird's fine with that.