Hickman 1

Mackenzie Hickman
Professor Raymond
UWRT 1104-004
October 4, 2018
M.R.H
The spelling of my name is actually the right way to spell it, any other way would
be considered wrong. Although certain names have different ways of being spelled,
some are correct and some are completely wrong. Luckily my parents decided to spell
mine the right way. That also goes for my middle name as well, my middle name is
actually spelled the wrong way. Normally when people spell my middle name it is Reed,
but mine is spelled Reid. Still pronounced the same, just spelled differently of course.
With how my first name is spelled, I had a lot of teachers growing up who would always
capitalize the ‘K’ in my name and knowing it was wrong, it always made me mad
because to me why would you ever capitalize the ‘K’. My name is not two separate
names but they would treat it as it was. Except how I was named, along with my siblings
is something interesting.
My mom decided to name us after famous people, well at least for my brother
and sister. My sister was named after Whitney Houston, and my brother was named
after Ethan Hawke. Those were two of her favorite people so that is who she decided to
name her kids after. Well now with my name, it was just a name she heard one day
while working in the office and her co-workers had said the name. Therefore, she
named me Mackenzie. My middle name however, came from a t.v. show that she used
to watch growing up and the last name of the family was Reed. Now how my middle
name was spelled as Reid, I have no idea, but at least I was named after something
famous like my other siblings. I really enjoy my name, it flows really well together,
although all of it as one is really long and if I could change the length I would, but other
than that I really do like my name.
Our last name is Irish, and you can easily tell it is Irish, it just has that certain look
and spelling of the Irish origin. Now of course the last name comes from my Dad’s side
of the family, and the two big last names on that side are Hickman and Walsh. Except
before we had those two last names, we had Shoemaker and we only had that last
name because when my ancestors moved across sea and established home in the
Americas they were all in the shoe making industry and they were told to pick a name
that described them so everyone referred to them as the shoemakers and it stuck for
generations. Personally it is a really unique name. I have never met anyone in my life or
heard of anyone else in my life or parent’s life that they knew that had the last name
Shoemaker or knew of anyone. It is a really cool piece of my families history.
Shoemaker was in the family for a long time, mainly because my great great
grandfathers for the most part had all sons, until my great grandfather had a daughter
who is now my grandmother and she lost Shoemaker and was given Hickman when she
 Hickman 2

married my grandfather. Except if she had never been born, Shoemaker might have
lived on longer in the generation than what it did. But once again, Hickman is a really
unique last name and I have never met another Hickman that is not family. I am proud
to have not only my first and middle name, but also my last because of how unique it is
to not only me but my family as well.