About My Name

Stranger: Hey! What's your name?

Me: Hi! My name is Asteroide.

Stranger: Asteroid??! Like...like asteroid??

Me: Pretty much like that. There is a small difference, but no one cares.

Stranger: Is your mother an astronomer?

This is very often how my conversations with a stranger begin. If you have met me, you might still remember the first time you heard my name. Some people get super excited and ask tons of interesting questions while others cannot disguise their expression of "Oh! I'm so sorry that you got this name."

To help people to make sense of my name, I usually begin by explaining that I'm from Brazil and I have a sister...

Stranger: Is Asteroide a commonly given name in Brazil?

People would ask me before I finish. Well, I know two other people with the same name in my hometown, Garopaba! This might lead to the conclusion that the answer is yes. Except that the sample size is not representative, and the data is biased! In fact, one of these Asteroides is my uncle and the other one is the father of a friend of mine from high school! So, going back to where I was interrupted, my sister's name is Astride.

Stranger: Wait, then Asteroide and Astride are the male and female versions of the same name!!

Me: Yep, you got it!

Stranger: Oh... now it makes sense...

For some folk, it does make sense but for some others not so much. As a matter of fact, I also have an aunt named Astride. So, my mother, who at that time didn't even know that such a thing called an asteroid would exist, copied the names of her brother and sister to me and my sister.

A few months before my grandfather passed away, I asked him about the origin of these names. He said that he met a couple of musicians called Asteroide and Astride, who used to travel from a neighboring city, Imbituba, to sing and play guitar in Garopaba. My grandfather liked those musicians, liked their names, and decided to name two of his nine children as Asteroide and Astride. Unfortunately, I never got to meet those musicians to ask them where their names came from. If you happen to know them, please let me know.

Once I heard that both Asteroide and Astride, or some variant of those, are common given names in Sweden, but I could never confirm that.

Going back to the question of whether Asteroide is a commonly given name in Brazil or not, the answer is not at all. People in Brazil react in the same way as people in America do when I introduce myself. In Portuguese (recall that Portuguese is the official language in Brazil, not Spanish!), "asteroid" and my name have the exact same spelling. Only the pronunciation is slightly different, the "o" in "asteroide" is pronounced as in "odd" whereas the "o" in my name is pronounced as in "old".

If you ever happen to meet me and don't feel comfortable pronouncing my name as it is in Portuguese (I know it's particularly hard for English speakers because of the rolling "r") or to call me like asteroid, you can simply call me Aster or Santana. Or even as Sophia or Luisa's daddy, as I'm well-known too!

Stranger: It was very nice to meet you. I will never forget your name!

Me: Thank you, it was nice to meet you too! By the way, what's your name again??