My Name

We are reading Sandra Cisneros' book, The House on Mango Street. Students wrote their own creative vignettes imitating her style.

Here is a portion of Cisneros' vignette:


From “My Name”
by Sandra Cisneros in The House on Mango Street

In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting. It is like the number nine. A muddy color. It is the Mexican records my father plays on Sunday mornings when he is shaving, songs like sobbing.

At school they say my name funny as if the syllables were made out of tin and hurt the roof of your mouth. But in Spanish my name is made out of a softer something, like silver, not quite as thick as sister's name Magdalena--which is uglier than mine. Magdalena who at least- -can come home and become Nenny. But I am always Esperanza.

I would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me, the one nobody sees. Esperanza as Lisandra or Maritza or Zeze the X. Yes. Something like Zeze the X will do.


Here are a few student imitations:

In English, my name means god of plenty. In Spanish, it means pretty pronunciation. It’s common and simple. It's like flowers. My name is gentle rain falling from the sky.

My name was supposed to be Valente when I was a “boy”. But Valente doesn't exist. He never existed, I was always a girl.

My name is the tree swaying in the wind, I'm at peace with it, but it's the wrong mixture of letters. It's different. It's like Moonlight on a foggy night.

I guess my mom liked “Ela”, after all both of my sister's names end with “Ela” and mine is no different. When I was younger I wanted to change my name to something like Chole or Emma but now I'm just happy with Isabela.

My name is a name well liked by my mom. It signifies noble strength. My name is the roaring waves crashing on the sand. It is the detail of a wing of a butterfly. Sensitive , caring, and strong, my name.

Audrey Hepburn, an actress, dancer, a star. Loved her craft but later settled down to have a family. She took time to do what she loved. My name is a world of its own, beauty and emotion.

My name is like a tear down my checks with no explanation because I'm stuffed with things I can't let go.

Before my name was supposed to be Alejandra. But that's was before my dad, my grandma, and my aunt Vero found out my mom was pregnant with me. The story behind my name is a living hell because of all the family drama that was caused just to name a little girl.

My mom was going through pain because it was time for me to come out but my dad didn't want to take my mom to the hospital neither did he want to be there at the time of birth but demanded my name to be the name he chose.

My mom wanted to name Alejandra. Something strong and powerful. Something that wasn't so hard to pronounce in either Spanish or English. But because of the threats and how much anger this had brought, I was named the name my father damned.

My friends call me Nessa or simply just by my first name. By my family nickname is Bané. Short for Banessa. There's no good meaning for my name because it only means karma or death.

In English, my name means beauty and comes from a flower. In Spanish it is Alicia. My name is a brave woman who fought against a deadly disease. Whose bravery rose with the sun and fell when the dark sky loomed.

My name is my grandpa crying in the corner of a dark room. Named after my great grandma he remembers the missing piece of his heart.

My name is the sun shining on a rainy day. It gives hope to my family filling it with happy memories of an innocent time. When we were untouchable.

My name is the sweet taste of candy. A burst of life, the sweet cries of a newborn baby, the first flowers blooming in spring.


My name is as common as shorts in the summer. My name, Jennifer, was the most common first name in 1970-1984. But I'm not common, I'm original. “Jennifer” a girl lost in a dark forest, lost and confused.

My name is a talkative girl, just looking to express herself. She doesn't care who she talks to, she just wants to talk. She wants new people in her life. That doesn't mean she doesn't appreciate who and what she already has.Jennifer is as free as a leaf in the wind. A leaf traveling around the world looking for new adventures. I'm just one more leaf in a pile.

The name Sophia is the air I breathe, it's the bed I sleep in and the food I eat. To me, I'm smiles and giggles on a rainy day but to everyone else, I'm just Sophia. Names are like labels on boxes of mac and cheese at Safeway. It's just the outside you have to discover what is inside.

For some reason my name means wisdom, wet in school, I feel like an old car that your grandfather left you and your trying desperately to restart. I get worse grades than a lump of cole. It's just not fair, I try my best yet I never succeed, I'm a growing tree, reaching towards the sun but even though I'm reaching as far as I can, I just can't reach it.

Someday I hope I will join the others, leave the cocoon and except my true form as a butterfly. But until then I'm a shoe that doesn't quite fit, I'm out of place in my own name.

My name has been through the past 100’s of years through history my name was called old English. Tyler means the protector of the golden gate to heaven-- Keeping the evil away. My name is used as a Surname and a given name. My name means protector, strong but never forgiving. My name is like a chicken falling apart inside a furnace. My name is the understanding of English language. The Name was from my dad that loved to see a friend but he passes away, and he says I look like him. My name is the fighting for food on a daily basis. 

My name was to fight and help my father get better through his grief. My name is fun when you go to a park. My nickname was Ty or Taylor just because they are easy and another way to explain my name in the same letters. My name is a moon shining in the dark and beautiful night. My name was the definition of crazy and loving person. My name is like the moon being dark but still light. My name is cool to me, and I think it will be me for the rest of my life.

My name is the member of a group that just barely fits in. The one who is similar to everyone else but just that little bit different to make them fun to tease every once and awhile. But that’s okay, my name is still a good one. My name means many talents, just not always known. My name means smart just not always in an obvious way. It is like a lightbulb, you just have to flip a switch and then its brightness shows.

My name is the person you meet that you really have to get to know before they seem more than just an ordinary pedestrian walking down the street. That person who is actually interesting and fun once they are comfortable. My name is the one with lots of cycling hopes and dreams that overlap each other constantly but are still separate. It says that I want to be so many things in life, sometimes easy and sometimes hard, but I will always try if I can. And it means that I have a lot of details about me that I don’t always tell. Or that I can be scared or unwilling to do or say certain things, whether they’re about me or not, but I am still an open and kind person even if it doesn’t appear that way. Or at least I try to be.

I don’t know what other people think of my name or what they say about it but in the end, every name is just word used to label something or someone whether it is a good one or not. A name is just, a name. It’s not automatically good or bad. Only the owner of that name can truly say if it is a good name for them, not for somebody else even if they have the same name. But through every little detail about my name, whether it’s a good detail or a bad, I still think I have a good name because it suites me and says everything about my personality.

My name is Allyenna. When people ask, “That’s your name?” I answer, “Yes. That’s my real name.” When people or substitutes say my name, they make it complicated, as if it has 19 syllables, as if it’s a foreign language.

But to me, my name is beautiful. My name is the Supermoon, the only light in the night, smiling down on Earth. My name is a paintbrush, drawing a beautiful pathway to a beautiful life. My name is J.K. Rowling’s imagination, unique and magical, and majestical too!

In Hmong, my name is spelled Ab Hli and is pronounced “Ah Hlee.” Ab means baby and Hli means moon, so the meaning of my name is Baby Moon. My name is the New Moon, just beginning a new chapter of a cycle.

My grandma says my Hmong name sounds like a strong-willed yet childish name. Perhaps it’s how I got my personality. She also told me my name makes me sound young. 50 years from now I’ll be old, but young.

My original name was Ellyanna, but me grandma pronounced it Allyenna. My parents decided to change it because they liked it better.

My name. Allyenna. Beautiful, childish, strong-willed, the moon. My name.

My name is basically already a Spanish name, but I never learned what it means. To me, my name is an unknown planet. It is coldness that has never felt the warmth. A lost soul with great meaning.

My real Name is Desiree. My father gave me the name Desiree. My mother didn't like that name for me, so they just went with Desiree.

I had to go with my father's last name. I hate it. And I know “hate” is a harsh word. But I mean it. I also “Hate” him. My father was not there at my birth, he was to busy making deals with the devil and playing with fire. But I grew up fine without him.

Look at me now. My name is broken-hearted. I’m stuck stitching a smile to my face. My name is Hope. My name is a light slowly going out. My name is the monster stuck in the closet. My name is all the things i wish i were or the stuff I think. My name is tired, it’s lonely, and it’s hurt… My name could’ve been Emily, or Sadie, or Nina, it even could’ve been Alex! But NO… it’s Desiree.

The one thing I love is my nickname. Lilo. Frome Lilo&Stitch. My name is a cute wide-eyed girl with a hope for her future, so innocent and naive with spirit and a best friend by her side.

I hope I have that soon. My name is a cloud full of rain not being able to let go of a single drop.


My name is Carter, in French it is charretier. My name is energy, it is activity, it's is moving and fidgeting, it is being energetic.

At school my name is like a laugh, like something natural, like a silk blanket on your skin, I do not have nicknames carter is all. My name is a comedy, it comes with jokes and laughter. My name is like sleeping in, liked by all

I would not like to change my name. Not to jack, or jake, david, or jerald, nope none of those. Carter is my name, yes Carter will do, Carter J. Turney.