People often wonder where people got their names from or why a name is spelled a certain way. Here are some people with original names and original spellings to tell you the story behind how they got their names:

Abbi Kissee

“My name, Abbi, came from the mathematical notation for complex numbers: a+bi. My dad is Mr. Kissee, a math teacher here at Ripon High. He didn’t leave it at just “Abi” because he thought it would look weird so he made it “Abbi”. That is why my full name is just Abbi and not Abigail.”

Nimrit Hayer

My name means “humble” in Punjabi, which is one of the languages of India. My parents named me Nimrit after my aunt whose name is Simrit. My parents had to spell my name to make it sound similar in English to how it is pronounced in Punjabi. I like my name because compared to other Punjabi names, mine is easier to pronounce because it is spelled how it is said.

Aiko DeArth

My parents gave me the name Aiko because they wanted a name that was relatively easy to say in English as well as Japanese. It means love or love child. The “ai” in Japanese means love and “ko” is a generic ending to many girls’ names in Japanese, meaning child. My Japanese heritage comes from my mom’s side of the family.

Reina Sausedo

My mom named me after Reyna, a character from the show Star Trek. That is my mom’s favorite show.

Fun Fact: Reina’s mom has a pair Star Trek earrings.

Elisabeth Fereria

My mom’s name is also Elizabeth, but with a z. She said that when she was little she hated to write her name with a cursive z so she spelled my name with an s. My last name is also spelled wrong. My dad’s great-grandfather and great-uncle got into a fight and the uncle decided to change the spelling of “Ferreria” to “Fereria” to get back at him.