The illegal name

by | Sep 2, 2013 | daily prompt

I already told the story of my name in an earlier post, so I’ll tell you the story of one my sisters’ name. When she was born in Spain, in Franco’s era, my parents decided to name her Lijerka, a beautiful Croatian name related to the feast of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. She was baptized in our parish without problem, of course.

But when my father went to the Civil Registry, the clerk said it was not possible to name her Lijerka because that was not christian. He wouldn’t recognize the name. My father tried to explain to him that it was a christian name but Croatian, but then the man said that being not Spanish was another reason to make Lijerka illegal. He did so in a rude way. He said that if my dad wouldn’t change his mind he would name the child. So he did.

When my sister needed her identity card, my father told her she had to look for her “legal” name and told us the story. Then we all learned that she was legally “Ana Juana”. Why? because a clerk decided so. When Franco died and the legislation changed she finally made her real name legal and now is just Lijerka as she and my parents wanted.

Daily Prompt: Name that… You!.

More name stories in the next page:

11 Comments

  1. Jorge

    Interesting story! Una historia verdaderamente interesante 🙂

    Reply
    • Olga Brajnović

      Thank you.
      Gracias.

      Reply
  2. Terry

    I loved this. It shows the strength in your family

    Reply
    • Olga Brajnović

      Thanks.

      Reply
  3. alienorajt

    Lijerka – what a beautiful name. Lovely story too. Alienora

    Reply
    • Olga Brajnović

      Thank you. Your name is beautiful too. I have another sister named Eleonora close to your name. We call her Eli or Elica pronounced Alitsa

      Reply
  4. Carneika W

    Lijerka is a beautiful name. I’m glad she finally got the name your parents wanted.

    Reply
    • Olga Brajnović

      Thank you. I like your name too, Carneika. This is an old story but it shows how was the life those years over here.

      Reply
      • Carneika W

        Thank you 🙂 I’m not exactly sure where my name is from. I always like to hear the stories behind unusual names.

        Reply
  5. Laura Bloomsbury

    Happy endings! Love the meaning of your sister’s name

    Reply
    • Olga Brajnović

      Thank you.

      Reply

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