I have always loved my name.

When I started middle school, a classmate exclaimed how pretty my name was when I introduced myself on the first day of school. I still remember that after all these years. That is how vain I am with my own name.

When I moved to the UK, I needed to spell out my name and its pronunciation. Every. Single. Time.

“It’s D-Y-A-H, and it’s pronounced Dee-Yah, or [diːjɑː], not Die-Yah.”

“It’s D-Y-A-H. Delta Yankee Alfa Hotel. No, it’s pronounced Dee-Yah, not Die-Yah.”

Now I live in Iceland, the conversation regarding my name has not changed much, only this time in Icelandic.

“D-Y-A-H. D eins og Davíð, ypsílon, A, H. Nei, það er Dee-Yah, ekki Die-Yah.”

Most of the times, I just find it amusing, as I roll my eyes when I spell out my 4-letter name for the hundredth billionth time.

But on difficult days, I just feel tired and dejected. Someone once suggested that I should change my name, having it written Día instead of Dyah. It will have the same pronunciation and it might be easier for the locals here to write and say it properly. Someone also told me if my name looks and sounds more Icelandic, it will give me a chance to land a better job with better pay, etc. How horrible I felt when I was told that warrants a whole other post, I think.

This morning, I was talking to a representative of a company that we work with, and she asked me how to spell my name, I was about to give her our email alias for our department to avoid spelling out my troublesome foreign name, but she said no, she just wanted to know how my name was spelled.

After I spelled out my name, she asked me if she was pronouncing it correctly. When I said yes that she was spelling and saying my name correctly, she said:

“I think I’ve got it now, what a beautiful name. May I ask where you’re from?”

I was pleasantly surprised. Apparently, when people genuinely express interest on how my name came to be and ask how to pronounce it properly, it makes me happy.

It is a little thing that means a lot to me. When living in a land when telling people my own name is often a struggle, it stopped being a novelty, and it becomes downright infuriating, this small comment just made my day.