"Hey!" "Wait ... me?"
"No. Mackenzie!"
"Which Mackenzie?" "There are a few of us here!"
When I was little I thought I was the only Mackenzie in the world. I thought my parents were so creative to just invent my name. I wrote in my journal about one day meeting another girl with my name.
Now, years later, I know so many other Mackenzies that I can't even imagine what I was thinking!
Mackenzie is not the only common name in Top of Utah high schools. In the senior class at Bonneville High, for instance, there are 11 Taylors -- boys and girls.
The most Taylors I've ever heard of in one class was four. The four Taylors would work together as a chemistry lab team; they enjoyed yelling each other's/their own names across the classroom. This started off very confusing for the teacher, but the Taylors were cool and patient with her mixing up papers and last names.
"I am so used to lots of people with my name that it doesn't really bother me anymore," says Taylor McDonald, a senior at Bonneville. "I like my name and it fits me good."
Taylor Doliwa, a Clearfield High junior, says, "The advantages of having others with the same name as me is you will always fit in with someone who otherwise would be a stranger, and if somehow you need to blame something on someone else, it can come in handy; or when you are talking about yourself, then you realize you sound rather stupid, you can say you were talking about the other Taylor."
Confusion supreme
At Layton High, sophomore Brianna Brown says, "I have three Briannas in my church so we get confused a lot."
"I know quite a few people with my same name here in Utah, but that was never the case when I lived elsewhere," says Makayla Bottoms.
The Clearfield senior says, "It can get quite annoying sometimes; I will be standing by someone with my same name and when our name is called we both turn around, which was the goal of the person that was calling out. They often do that to get both of our attention instead of addressing us as different people."
Or how about when another person who shares your name is right behind you? Mikayla Sparrow, a senior at Clearfield High, knows exactly what we're talking about.
"My favorite thing is when someone random is waving and they say "Hi," so you say 'Hi' and wave back with a confused look. When that happens they just give you this look like 'What the heck!" Sparrow says.
Every once in a while, the victims of same-name problems, mix other people up on accident.
Bottoms admits, "I have texted someone to go to an activity with me, but texted the wrong person because the two had the same name. I didn't look at the last names and so that's why I made that mistake."
Katelyn or Caitlinn?
There are different ways to get around an unoriginal name, such as nicknames. A boy at my school named Bailey is more commonly known as "Beetal."
Or some parents have more creative spellings for common names.
Baleigh Espinoza, a junior at Bonneville High, says, "No one ever spells my name right. I try not to make people feel bad but I always correct them."
Sometimes it's not even the same name that gets you. Similar names can be a nuisance too -- Kylees and Kaylies, Braidens and Brandens.
"Every other person in the world has my name," says Tyler Roberts, a Clearfield High senior. "Teachers have the most trouble. They never really get it right."
Deanna Wheeler, a junior at Layton High, doesn't go to school with any other Deannas, but she's OK to share her name.
"I know a few other students with similar names. And even if someone did have my name, it would be fine," Wheeler says. "I won't be selfish with my name!"
TX. correspondents Kimball Gardner and Lynette Randall, Clearfield High, and Hillary Slaughter, Layton High, contributed to this story.
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Mackenzie Stevens is a senior at Bonneville High School. She loves playing volleyball and chill-axing with friends. E-mail her at stevensma1@wsdmail.net.
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