In Greek my name means protector of man. My name has been the name of great people before me. Alexander the Great was the King of Greece. Alexander Graham Bell the creator of the telephone. It would be somewhat anticlimactic if you saw me after you heard my name. My name sets a high standard.

It seems that people don’t like my name. Most people call me Raab. But I would rather be called Raab. In most formal situations people use full names, but not mine. I always wondered why. It must be too much of an inconvenience to sound out the extra two syllables. My name ruins the cadence of a sentence.

My middle school science teacher called me Alexander. I always thought it was strange that he did that. He took the extra time to sound out the two syllables. Something no one else found time to do. He was my favorite teacher.

Alexander is a common name. That is the worst part. When people call Alex, five people in a room turn their heads. My name is impractical.

No matter how many other people call it theirs, I call my name my own. My parents named me Alexander and that is what I would like to be called.

Someone once said that my name makes them think of red. I wonder if they were thinking of my full name or Alex. Because my full name is softer than Alex, which is rather sharp. My name makes me think of a deep expansive blue like the ocean. Not too far out, but so you can see land.