By Any Other Name

I've written previously about the confusion with names here, specifically the pronunciation and spelling. Though most Ugandans have a "Christian name" in addition to their local name, the English names topping the charts are quite different from the ones typically used today in the West. For example, many girls here are called Gift, Primrose, Favor, and Doreen... with the occasional Shakira. Boys are often Livingstone, Immanuel, January, and Ronald... with the occasional Obama. 

While many of our Western names might still be unfamiliar in Uganda, my name presents a whole slew of challenges for the native Runyankole speaker. As a refresher, L's and R's are interchangeable and most words in Runyankole end in a vowel sound. My name contains an "L" and an "R" and doesn't end with a vowel sound. Thus, when a shop keeper fills out a receipt for me, I never know what name will be written there when it's handed over. Even when I've spelled it out, letter by letter, these are some of the gems I've received:

Carlolyn

Carolyne and Calolyne

Caroline Semellie

Caloryn

Kellen

And my recent favorite...

Carlo