What is your middle name? Does it carry any special meaning/significance?

I don’t usually care about these WordPress writing prompts, but this one was intriguing to me because I did not have the answer. I actually had to text my mom and ask her if there is any significance to my middle name. It’s the one part of me that I have always really liked. I like how it feels to say it and I like that it’s just unique enough that it’s not a name you hear very often without sounding ridiculously forced and make believe. 

I also like that there is a story behind it, BECAUSE YOU SEE for the first several years of my life, it was spelled “Rachele.” I even had this darling (lol) silver cup that had my name engraved onto it: Erin Rachele. When I learned how to write my full name, this is how I would spell it. But then at some point, and I’m going to say it probably had to do with the time my step-dad decided to adopt me which was in either 1st or 2nd grade, my mom was looking at my birth certificate and realized that she had misspelled my middle name as Rachelle. So, then I had to train myself to start writing it the legally correct way even though it was the incorrect way, and this is something that is so on brand with my life in general, so I really actually love it, without a hint of sarcasm.

But now I know that it stemmed from my Pappap’s suggestion of “Rachel.” My mom said that at the time, Rachel felt too popular, so she added the extra “e” to the end to fancy it up a bit. Knowing that my Pappap was a part of the naming process makes me love it so much more. 

Me, probably before I knew – or cared – that my current middle name was wrong LOL. <3

This post is brought to you by the same person who also had a completely made-up, imaginary birthdate put onto her wedding certificate. 

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