My mom's soul zinger

My mom and I never discussed this in much detail, but her story was consistent over the years. When she was pregnant with me, if I was a girl I was to be named Erika after my paternal great-grandmother and if I was a boy, Louis after my paternal grandfather. My grandmother's name was Esther so thankfully my parents skipped over that to Erika.

However, after I was born and my mom was still in the hospital, she had a German nurse and the nurse asked her what they were naming me. My mom told her I'd be named Erika and apparently the nurse said, "No, you should name her Krista". And I was named Krista, by a nurse.

This story bothers me on several levels, especially since I have two children of my own and I think of the care and though that went into naming them. I don't see how it could be so easy to be swayed by a stranger's opinion. But that's the story and all I've got to go on. So maybe it was a soul zinger for my mom to change my name from Erika to Krista. I do wonder if my life would have been any different if I'd been named Erika.

Now this is where the story gets a bit stranger. About 10 years ago I met a woman from Ohio named Krista (with a K, not a CH) about my age, and it's an unusual name for women born in the 1960's. She has the exact same story, a German nurse told her parents to name her Krista. We're about the same age, and I was born in Oregon, so my consipiracy theory is that there was a German nurse in the US going through the states naming girls Krista. If anyone is reading this and is named Krista and has a similar story, please let me know!

caring coaching