Unapologetically Being My True, Authentic Self

What's in a name, you ask? Your name might have a personal or cultural meaning that's near and dear to you. On the other hand, you dislike your name and want to change it or to be called by a different name. For me, I chose the latter. In a recent article from the Social Security Administration's (SSA) website, they displayed a table of the top 100 names given to males and females between the years 1925 to 2024. In case you're curious, the most popular name for males is James, while Mary is the top given name for females in the past 100 years. My name, Mark, is ranked 15th on the list among given male names. Near the end of 2022, I made a bold decision to do something for myself. In December of that year, I decided that I wanted to go by my middle name, which is Wesley and wanted to be addressed by that name. I'll share the why in a bit. It's not a popular name and according to MyNameStats.com, it's ranked 488th. I'm almost 40 and I have the right to be called by a different name. It was a grown-up decision that I don't regret at all.

So why do I prefer Wesley over Mark? If you're a loyal subscriber of mine or read my stories either regularly or occasionally, you're already familiar with how I grew up. For my new readers and subscribers on Vocal, I'll share a short excerpt of my background. I grew up in Texas, being the oldest of three children. I grew up in a very abusive and toxic household. I suffered years of verbal and physical abuse at the hands of the two people who were supposed to love and protect me. I've been estranged from my parents for nearly 15 years, and it was in December 2022 that I decided that I wanted everyone to call me by my middle name.

Sure, the name Wesley is not as popular as it was decades ago. However, it suits me well. To me, it's more mature and masculine. I'm considering changing my first and last name too, but I haven't decided on that yet. That'll be a story for another time. There will be times where people accidentally call me Mark and it's an honest mistake, but I would kindly remind them that I prefer to be called Wesley. You can call me Mr. Wesley, Wesley, or even Wes and that is only reserved for the adults. It doesn't matter to me at all, but to the much younger people, I'm Mr. Wesley. When you reach a certain age, people who are much younger than you have to respect you. Another reason why I prefer Wesley over Mark is because when I was in school, there was another person who had the same first name as I did and we were in the same class, which made everyone confused, because I wouldn't know at time if my teacher was addressing me or the other guy named Mark. The third and final reason why I prefer Wesley over Mark is because I'm at an age where I can finally be my own person. The name Mark has too many bad memories; due to the abuse I've experienced growing up. For me, it's about taking back my life and making it anew. I do have to keep my entire name for personal purposes and here on Vocal.

So, in closing, I'll reintroduce myself to everyone: My name is Wesley. It's a pleasure to meet you. Please call me Wesley.

If you had to change your name right now, what would you call yourself? Sound off in the comments section below. If you enjoyed this story, please give it a like. Make sure you follow me on my socials. Finally, like this story and please leave a generous one-off tip. It'll be found at the end of this story. Big or small, your tips will support creators like me so we can keep publishing new stories and share them with everyone.