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By Amy Finocchio "What's In A Name?" My full name is Amy Winston Finocchio. My first name means "Beloved." The name Amy was brought by the Normans to England. My name, when uncapitalized, is a legal term for friend, according to "What's in a Name?" by Favius Friedman. My first name is also seen in various forms in French, such as "bon ami," or "good friend." My parents chose this name over Julia because they preferred its sound and meaning. My middle name, Winston, is a family name. It is the maiden name of my great-grandmother on my mother's side. In my culture, it is customary for the mother to choose the middle name of the child, so that family names on her side may be continued when the child takes on the father's last name. My great-grandmother passed away before my mother was born, but she chose "Winston" because it flowed better than "Stanley," another family name. My last name comes from my father, who is half-Italian and half-Sicilian. The Finocchios came to America in the early 1900s from Palermo, Sicily. The name means "Fennel" in English. Fennel is a licorice-tasting herb that grows here in Southern California and is used for seasoning. As one may imagine, I was teased a lot when I was younger about my last name. My mom would not let me shorten it to "Finn," and references to the movie "Pinocchio" still plague me to this day. However, the name that I used to hate now serves me well, because it is a hard name to forget. People who might not remember my face almost never forget my last name. If I ever get married, I think that I will keep my last name. It is a part of me now, whether I like it or not. It is a large part of my identity, part of what makes me unique. (Amy Finocchio is a junior majoring in Sociology.)