August 11, 1998. The date when I was born, the date when suddenly I became somebody in the world, the thing is – who was I? My parents were very capricious at the time, and well they still didn’t have a name for me. Problem – birth certificate. Technically speaking you don’t exist without one. So my parents were stuck in a dilemma because they couldn’t decide what to name their baby girl. My mother, as usual, turned to God for help, a little late for my taste I was already a few hours old.
She said, “Lord you are the creator and judge of all things, you are my father and I pray you give me the enlightenment to name my daughter something beautiful, something unique and special” That’s when it hit her – she remembered that a few of her friends were talking about baby names and their meanings, and one of them meant – “God is my judge” DANIELA. She immediately told my father, and well the name stuck. Growing up my friends and family always called me Daniela, no short version, no nicknames, nothing – just plain and simple Daniela.
But that was more of a sojourn, by the time I was 6 and moved to the US, Daniela just seemed too complicated, too sophisticated, and frankly way too long for a kindergartener. So I decided to just chop it off and simple it down to just, Dany. (So much better right. ) From then on being called anything but Dany was abhorrent, I was extremely finicky as a child, and well sometimes I still am, depends on the situation of course.
At first I thought I was the only Daniela in the world, I didn’t think anybody else deserved MY name. That all changed when one day I heard a lady call out my name and it was not meant towards me I was a little puzzled and I got mad. (Selfish I know, but then again I was only 4 – I think) I immediately went over to my mother and complained that somebody had stolen my name. I was being extremely truculent, and my mother – of course, said I was being egoistic and that no, I was not the only Daniela in the world..
Well that was a bummer for me, but indeed she was right, in the US it is ranked as the 200th most popular name and in Mexico it’s the 5th so quite a lot of girls do indeed own “my” name as well. I mean having so much popularity, especially in Latin America and Spain, you would suppose there’s a lot of celebrities that have my name right? Well the sad truth is that they do not.. The only celebrity that I know of is Daniela Romo, and she’s only well known in Mexico and Latin America.
Other than that, no not really. I mean theres the male version of my name, Daniel, like Daniel Radcliff does that count? Probably not Still you gotta give me some credit here. Daniel is Harry Potter for crying out loud..! Now as most of you all know, I’m Mexican, and that plays a huge role in my name. In my country we use both our mother and our fathers’ last names, your paternal last name is first and then it’s your maternal. Like so: Garza Mendoza.
Now in Mexico most last names are popular in different regions of the country, for example, in Monterrey there is an abundance of families with the the last name Garza. I was not born in Monterrey, but my father’s family is indeed from there. We call these people that live in the north “los regios” and I’m known as a “chilanga” because I was born in Mexico City. My mothers last name, well maiden last name, Mendoza is most common in Michoacán which is located in the center of Mexico just like Mexico City, Guadalajara, Pachuca, etc..
But both of my last names did not originate in Mexico, instead they are both created in Spain in the 1st century so yes both of my last names are very very old Juan de la Garza was the first man with that last name to sail to America in 1514, and later on many more migrated to the new world. I personally don’t know many people with my last names that aren’t part of my family, but either way I am proud of my name, and I am pleased that my parents chose to call me Daniela, or Dany in my terms, it’s simple, unique, and beautiful. It suits me and my personality. It defines me and makes me who I am. This is me Daniela.
