9 Problems You Probably Experienced Growing Up Abroad With A Lebanese Name

Growing up with a Lebanese name abroad wasn’t easy. From the sheer disappointment, to ending up hating your name, here are a few struggles that you probably went through.

1. Never finding your name on any souvenir keyring as a child

And being super jealous of your friends Chloe, Sara and Martha who could.

2. And never finding your name on these as an adult.



And still being disappointed about it.

3. Having your teachers, colleagues and friends destroying the beauty of your name

Charbel becomes “shar-belle”, Mira becomes “mayra” and Ahmad becomes “ak-med”.

4. Asking super intrusive questions about it

“So… where is that name from?” is another way of asking what your country of origin is.



5. Or just going ahead and assuming for themselves

“Oh, so you’re from India?”

6. The awkward hesitation before reading your name out from the class register

And then also at graduation, just when you thought you’d moved past that problem in life.

7. Automatic nicknames that you never approved

Yes, you need approval before crucifying anyone’s name.



8. The spelling.

Even if you spell it out for them at Starbucks, they will still spell it wrong.

9. Never being in the math examples

Really? Why does Sam always have 7 apples? What if Jad had them first?