In life we have all been given a name at birth, typically by our parents. My name, Kristena, is a rather common name in the way it is pronounced. The most common spelling is Christina, with Kristina in a close second.

But then you have my spelling. When you first saw my name did you catch that it had an ‘e’ in it? If you’re like most you didn’t. That’s normal. Whereas the spelling of my name some might say is abnormal. To me that doesn’t sound right. I like to think of the spelling as unique.

Here’s the funny story behind the spelling of my name, or for that matter why I was name Kristena to begin with. My mom and dad had a hard time agreeing on a name for me. My dad liked the name Tina and my mom hated it. She thought it was an ugly name (no offense to those named Tina out there). I think my mom liked Jennifer (as it seems many moms and dads did back then) but my dad didn’t (instead that became my sisters name, go figure). So they both agreed on my name. So you may be saying, “Okay that’s great, but how did the spelling of it come about?” My mom has told me since I can remember that the reason she spelled it the way she did is it looked pretty on paper. So that is how my name got to be spelled with an ‘e’ instead of an ‘i’.

Another interesting story, when I worked at Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, I had a female coworker whose name was Kevin. I asked her one day why her parents named her Kevin. She said, “My dad wanted a boy.”

Tell me about your name. Do you have a story that goes behind it.