Hiroko

Hiroko is a fairly common, traditional Japanese name.  Most websites would say that it means "generous" or "magnanimous" but I'm not sure if this is accurate in my case because of the Kanji 紘子.  My parents don't even know what it really means.  Baby names are often picked based on the number of strokes in the kanji and how lucky it is (my name is 24 strokes and it's supposed to be a good number).  My grandfather picked it and my parents liked it because of a famous pianist and an actress (singer?  I forget.)

It's not very popular anymore, and most people whose names are Hiroko are either my generation or older.  I never ran into another Hiroko my age until very recently.  It's causing a lot of confusion because our last names are similar, too.

This one other Hiroko also happens to be a social worker who got her MSW at from the same program I did.  The mix-ups first started with a text message from a mutual friend.  She asked me if I wanted to go to dinner later in the week, to which I said OK.  As the conversation went on, she started saying stuff that I don't understand, so I realized that she thinks she's talking to the wrong Hiroko.  I texted her back to tell her but she didn't believe me until I e-mailed her later that day.

Then I started receiving e-mails that were really intended for the other Hiroko.  Some of these e-mail came from people in my agency!  Sometimes it's easy to figure it out and other times it's not.  I'd feel stupid not understanding the e-mail then come to realize that it's not even for me! 

Last week I got a phone message and an e-mail from Hiroko.  We haven't talked yet but we laughed about these mix-ups over e-mail.  I found out that the same things happen to her as well.  We will be meeting in person in a couple of weeks because I'm doing a presentation during a conference put together by her agency.  I don't know why this feels so exciting because it's not going to change anything now that I think about it.

I always wondered (and people ask) if I should have a middle name (or coffee name).  When I order coffee at Starbucks, I give them my name but they usually just call out the order (e.g. "latte") instead of my name.  There was one guy who could actually pronounce my name because he's been to Japan. 

So what would be a good name for me?  I've asked some people to come up with a cool middle name for me but they always come up with something like "Jennifer."  Maybe it's an American equivalent since it's traditional and common like Hiroko.  I really don't think any name would fit me anyway.

Good thing there is no other Hiroko in the pool world...for now.