My Name. Nolan. Ridges like a mountain bordering the sea. A hard beginning met with a soft ending. 

It's spoken like a bite from a chocolate bar. Hard at first but soon warms, melting in the mouth, leaving a delicious after taste. 

Two distinct syllables, no gap between them. Despite their nature they flow together smoothly, a gust of air flowing through a valley. It’s strong yet soft. 

The “No” is bold and outstanding. A word all its own towering over the quieter half.  “Lan” the second half, often spoken softly, as if hiding in the shadow of the first. 

I relate to the name in a way, my appearance being harsh, unsmiling at times overshadowing my true nature. A kind person behind the serious expression.

 The name fits me in this way, with it’s dichotomy of strong yet soft. 

 The whole of the name, Nolan, a name that appears as though it should flow off the tongue despite it’s ridges—but does not. The tongue bounces quickly from the roof of the mouth, to the teeth then back again in an effort to smush out the sounds of an “L” trapped between two “N’s”. Attempting to pronounce it correctly, leaving the -lan intact creates a gap between the syllables, the pause between the two being unbearably long. 

The name evokes the color blue, a place by the sea. Somewhere familiar yet unordinary. 

A name that's infrequent, but still familiar. Not exotic. A fitting name for me, someone who feels like they’ve grown the same way as those around them but came out just a little bit different. A person that feels all together familiar with a pinch of the unknown. 

I am happy with my name. Nolan. I couldn’t think of a better name to call myself.

Nolan. A name meaning champion. Another aspect of the name I aspire to represent one day.

Will I succeed? We can’t know yet.

But what I do know, is that Nolan, for all the things it could represent, fits me better than I could have hoped.