I like my last name. It is Italian in origin and means “of Christ.” The name DiCristo, no matter how simple I think it is to spell and say, people have always struggled with it. Whether it comes to misspelling my last name on my birth certificate, to having to say my last name many times in order to check in to various places, the name has never come easy to others.

When first looking at my last name one might find it odd that there are two capital letters in it. This is because the “Di” and “Cristo” are supposed to be separated and capitalized, just as you would capitalize each word in a title of a book or movie. The space was removed due to customs people on Ellis Island being unfamiliar with two word last names. This made it easier to pronounce in an English way, and more streamlined along with most other English names.

Although, genetically, I am far removed from my Italian heritage, my dad’s grandpa came over from Italy to Ellis Island in New York by himself as a child, and nowadays most of my distant relatives live on the east coast, mostly in New York and New Jersey. Whenever I think about my last name I am always happy about how unique it is and the crazy rarity it beholds. There are under 500 people in the U.S. that have my last name and it blows my mind every time I think about it. At the end of the day my last name may be different, but it sure is cool.