Names by Megan Christner

For Aurelia, it feels like the third time's a charm for her feelings towards Marina's life. When she was pregnant, she almost had two miscarriages, and after the second, Marina lived. Being the superstitious woman that Aurelia is, perhaps she waited for the third time around to name Marina, and also for age 3 to officially give her her name. Marina, a reference to the sea, is an appropriate name because it seems like Marina needs to keep floating to keep going, that she needs a force upon her to keep her alive.
My name means "little pearl" in Welsh. My parents named me Megan because they thought it was unique; however so did everyone else having baby girls in the 1980s. Ashley, my middle name, means "ash wood" and has an English origin. My mother chose that middle name for me because she watched a soap opera everyday while she was pregnant with me, and her favorite character was named Ashley. My first name is okay. Sometimes I wish I could have a less common name. I always wanted to be called Ashley when I was younger because there never seemed to be any in my classes, unlike with Megan, there seems to be at least one other one everywhere I go. I don't have a secret name, but my favorite nickname is Megs. My dad has called me that since I was little and most of my close friends call me that. It's a name that makes me smile.