Facebook Group of the Week : My Name is Awesome Because No One Else Has It

"I usually get 'Oh, camera? Like click, click?'" said Kambra Larsen, referencing the common mispronunciation of her unique name, which she says was given to her by her hippie parents.

In contrast to the numerous Emilys and Jacobs [HTML_REMOVED] the two names that dominated the most popular baby name lists for most of the 2000s [HTML_REMOVED] one-of-a-kind names will never have to deal with the confusion of "which one of us are you talking to?"

The Facebook group's page says it best: "For the cool kids who never had to tack on the first letter of their last name to be distinguished from the other kid(s) with the same name."

Senior Leeching Tran created "My Name is Awesome Because No One Else Has It," during the fall of 2004 when Facebook was less than a year old.

"I created this group because when I joined Facebook, there were only about 50 groups at Washington and I didn't like many of them so I decided to make my own," Tran said. "I just happened to make it about my name because it's something unique about me, and aren't we all a little elitist sometimes?"

At the UW, more than 500 students with distinctive names have joined this group, where they can gather and share tales of the many ways that their names have been butchered over the years as well as the reasons they still love their names.

Sophomore Margitte Kristjansson, whose name is a variation of Margaret and was given to her by her mother and grandmother, had an odd experience one summer while working as a receptionist.

"I answered the phone with, 'Hello, this Margitte, how may I help you?' and some cantankerous old man proceeded to explain to me that I was mispronouncing my own name," said Kristjansson.

Her name is pronounced "Mar-gee-ta" but the man insisted that it was a French name and should be "Marj-heet."

Junior Galen Savidge was named, at the suggestion of his mother's friend, after one of the founders of Yosemite National Park, Galen Clark. He has not had many issues with his name.

"For having two seemingly unusual names, they don't get mispronounced as much as you'd think," Savidge said.

His last name is the Old English spelling of "Savage," which has led to him being asked if he was related to Boy Meets World actor Ben Savage (he isn't).

Since creating the group more than two years ago, Tran has received a largely positive response, with the exception of those whose names didn't make the cut. Group membership is currently limited to UW students, but she suggests that other schools should make one for their network as well.

Although she initially invited friends with one-of-a-kind names to join, interest now spreads mainly through word of mouth. She usually receives two to three requests a week.

The story behind Tran's name is unclear, although she does know that combining it with her two older brothers' and cousins' names forms a sentence. Regardless, she has always liked her name and the fact she does not know anyone else with her name.

"In Chinese, 'lee' means beautiful and 'ching' means green, though my name doesn't directly translate that way," Tran said. "My dad has explained it to me vaguely a few times, but I still don't really get it.

Reach columnist Abby Walker at features@thedaily.washington.edu.