Compliments that complement

When I meet new people, I always introduce myself with my short name, Is... bcoz I believe not everybody could remember my full name, although it is just an 8-letter-word. Yes, my full name is just made up of 8 letters, simple and not overdone like most kids nowadays.
Anywa, back to the introducing with nickname...it particularly applies to international people I meet, bcoz I believe they might find it hard to articulate a Malay name.

But hey, I was wrong.
Yesterday, upon hearing my full name...my newly found Iranian friend (from the iCeL2 conference) said "Is that a Spanish name?"

:P

And that wasn't the first time I got such a response. There were times when they replied with "That's a beautiful name! U shouldn't have use your nickname."

or
"I like ur name...Is******, Is******" (mumbling my name a few times).


Well, to be frank, I used to wonder how did I get my name. The first two syllables synchronize with Abah's name-at least that was what I thought...until I asked Abah personally.

I got to know that actually the first syllable is of Abah's name, while the second syllable was of Mak's. Aha!!! How come it never crossed my mind for the past 29yrs?

So, I asked Abah about Along's name. Hers sounds similar like mine (the first two syllables) and again, I was surprised to know that it is generated from our parents' names too!

Owing to the similarity of pronunciation in our names, whenever her friends were introduced to me, they would make a wild guess "Oh...so, is your brother's name Iskandar?"

The fact is no. His is Mohd Firdaus.
And none of my younger sisters got such names too. They were given beautiful and meaningful Arabic names that I wish I had.