Meaning of My Name

My full name is Trinh Mai Phuong Paula. I prefer to be called Paula since my Vietnamese name isn't that easy to pronounce, that is also the reason why my parents gave me an English name. My name, Paula, means small which is quite strange because I'm not really small. Also, it's origin is Latin and a feminine form of Paul. It was not used widely in English-speaking countries until the 20th Century. In the meantime, it was mainly used as a German name. When I was living in Poland, everyone pronounced Paula differently, they said P-ow-la so instead of 'au' they said 'ow' because in Polish that's how you would say it. Originally my name was meant to sound like that but now that everyone pronounces it differently, I got used to it and I don't really mind.

My Vietnamese middle name Mai means cherry blossom or apricot blossom, all the siblings in my family have that middle name - Mai Anh, Mai Linh, Mai Van. My middle name also means tomorrow in Vietnamese, plus, it is the name of a beautiful flower that blossoms during Tet. My Vietnamese name Phuong means phoenix, which I think is pretty cool. I don't know what my surname Trinh means, all I know is it is from my dads side of the family. My parents gave me this name, because they simply liked it, well thats what my mum told me (she was too busy to talk).

I really like my name because I think it suits me (not the small part) and I like writing it. However, I get annoyed when people say it as Pola or don't know how it's spelt.

I am usually called Paula at school and Phuong at home, here are some nicknames I had.

- Pork-chop, this nickname was given to me by a friend called Wiebe. Honestly, I really hated it, because it's weird and I don't like to be referred to as a food.

- P.T, my initials, this nickname was created by Ruchi and still used now as she seems to call people by their initials.

- Paul, Kha Han likes to call me Paul, I don't know why, but I guess she thinks its funny.

- Paulz, my best friends Kayla and Kaho created this by adding a z, they did that to their own name as well.

- Pow Cow, this nickname I truly hate, I think it was created by Anh Tu and I despise him of it.

- Bunny, I think this nickname is really bizarre, Alyssa created this and she gave everyone a animal nickname (for some strange reason).

There may have been more but I can't remember them at the moment.