What's in a name?

The truth is that names are a part of every culture and that they are of huge importance to those who receive the name and to those who give the names too. As a matter of fact, your name is the main thing people ask for when they meet you or it's the first piece of personal information you provide when meeting someone new. Aside from any physical attributes, your name is the most important means by which someone can identify and refer to you. Studies have shown that names do set up certain expectations and can influence people who put a lot of weight on first impression. There are certain names that immediately remind you of someone so special, so you are drawn to them right away. Then there are names, I don't know why, maybe they're hard to pronounce or just make you think of something you don't necessarily like and that influences what you might expect from them. I read a report that said that some people do judge those they first meet based on their name. I personally don't know about that one.

The book I'm publishing is inspired by my story, my journey, my transition, my migration to the USA. Naturally, I initially thought I'd name my main character after me. After all, it is my story. I wondered what people would say, "Nury" is not really a common hispanic name. I even looked it up and saw that it was more aligned with Asia, it's an Arabic name. I had heard it was Asian before from my family, but I thought more like Japanesse or somewhere nearby. So then I decided to pick a name that would be more recognizeable in a Latin culture. After much deliberation I still could not decide on one. Then one day I thought, this is a book that is inspired by my life, so who was the most important person in my life? My mom! Guess what? My mom's name was Sofia. She passed a way about 5 years ago, December 12 will be five years to be exact. So what better way to give homeage to her then by naming the main character of my first book afer her.

So here you have it folks, meet Sofia (no "ph"). She is the main character in "3,585 Miles to be an American Girl".