Alicia Final

I know I said id write about traditional Yup’ik regalia but I thought the history behind my name/Yup’ik names, in general, was more interesting.

A year before I was born, my grandmother passed away. My mom being the youngest child of nine siblings took this loss the hardest. She was roaming this world without direction and needed a reason to pick herself back up again. She tells me she prayed to God and asked him to give her a baby girl. That same year, my mom got pregnant with me. When I was born, she named me Alicia Christina Nugarrluk Evan. Alicia is a derivative of my grandmother's name, Alice. My middle name, Christina, came from my grandmother’s mom who was Christine. My Yup’ik name is the exact same Yup’ik name as my grandmother's Yup'ik name. In my culture, if you are named after someone, you are their namesake. So even after that person passed, you sort of carry their name and role. So for me, being named after my grandmother,  gave me some of her roles. There are people who refer to me with the same relation that they had to my grandmother. For example, if my grandmother was their aunt, I am now their aunt too. My mom tells me that when my grandmother died, she had a hole in her heart but since I am named after my grandmother, I filled that hole. Recently, I asked her what my name would be if I was a boy and she told me she never picked a boy name or even though about it because she knew I would be a girl. When my mom had my younger sister, she knew exactly what her Yup’ik name would be. Her Yup’ik name is Cingarrkaq. This name is after my grandpa. My sister is seen as my grandfather's namesake. My mom always tells us that she has her mom and dad with her because my sister and I are their namesakes. My name is a significant part of my identity. I carry this name with respect because even though I never met my grandmother, I know she is with me every step of the way.

This naming system is commonly seen in the Yup’ik culture. Normally, people are named after only the deceased. Example, when someone is pregnant, even if a name was picked for that child, if someone suddenly dies in the family, the parents will name their child after the person who passed away. This is a commonly seen trend in the Yup’ik culture, and when I have children, they will most likely be named after someone too.