What’s in a Name? Mașa—Mași—Mașenca— Mașencuța—Doina—Doinița—Bucur— Deckard—Maria—Măriuca

In this essay, I reflect on how the names by which I have been called have been shaped by, and in turn have shaped, my life. As a child of a Russian mother and a Romanian father, and later a migrant to the United States, the names I have been called and used to identify myself have placed me both inside and outside the cultural norms around me. My reflections focus on both the accommodation of and resistance to such norms.