Name dropping

Humor aside, I share some but not all of the views of Paul Farhi (“He’s Your Ordinary, Average Phinnaeus,” Dec. 15).

What you’re named may or may not make you famous, nor really stand in your way of success.

Whether you are christened with an ancestral name, one that is deemed jaded or outdated, an ethnic one or even an exotic, coined name, doesn’t distinguish you for life, although it may draw attention to you at any time.

But it may actually encourage you -- indeed, make you feel different in an overcrowded world.

My name (pronounced im-ree) came about because I am a small part Hungarian, and, yes, I had difficulty with it growing up. While common in Hungary, I have encountered only two persons with my name (one of whom changed it to Emory), and very few who could pronounce it properly.

I have been addressed or called Imie, Imar, Ermy, Irma, Emory and, early on, on the first day of class, a teacher would call my name after all the girls and before the boys, and then see who responded!

But I discovered that my name translates as Amerigo or Americo, hence Americus Vespucci! I became a geographer.

Imre Sutton

Fullerton