My Name: A Reclaiming
About two years ago, I began to feel that my last name didn’t fit me anymore. I had taken on my husband’s name and before that, been given my father’s name. And while they were both people whom I loved and who loved me, neither name felt like it truly belonged to me, not to mention, expressed the maternal part of my lineage - the feminine that had for so long been valued as less than.
Around the same time, I received a message from a deeply intuitive friend inviting me to find out about my great-great grandmother in my maternal line. And it sparked a thought...what if we had been a culture that carried on the names from the maternal line (as some cultures do), what would my name have been? So I asked my mom how far back she could remember and she asked a cousin, our oldest living relative on my grandmother’s side of the family, who informed us that my great-great grandmother’s maiden name was Reginalda Orlando.
This name really struck me. Reginalda is the feminine form of Reginald which means king. Orlando translates to ‘famous throughout the land’. Reginalda Orlando then to me means ‘queen who is famous throughout the land’. What a powerful name!
And I started to imagine that if she had passed her name down the line, then I would be Tam Orlando. I tried it out. Rolled it around on my tongue. Forgot about it for a while. Then came back to it. Over and over again, I came back to it and it always felt good. Like a name that was in some ways my very own and also still honoring of my ancestry. (Also I have a hunch that this particular part of my lineage was connected to something bigger than self that I intuitively connect into as well but that’s another story for another time.)
So today I changed my name here to Tam Orlando. I am really excited about it. It feels like a good fit. Just right. For now.
Over the next few days I will be sharing more stories of my journey of reclaiming. There have been powerful and profound shifts happening in my life over the past few months as well as the past few years. The lessons I have learned, and the paths I have traveled are deeply personal. And yet, since I have learned so much and been so inspired by other people’s personal stories and trailblazing paths, I know the power of sharing these with you.
If you are interested to go deeper, come join me in Reclaim Your Space, my free FB Group. Next week I am launching a brand-new live challenge there to support you in reclaiming space in every aspect of your life. I will share tools and ideas that supported me or that came through my own journey. My hope is that these keys will unlock new possibilities and new freedom for you to live a thriving life based on your deepest, truest desires. I hope to see you there!
