I use WordPress to run my blog. Every day, I can open up my dashboard to edit the site, look through comments, and post new things. One new thing I recently noticed is that there is a daily prompt section in the dashboard. I keep an eye on it to see if any interesting questions pop-up. Today, I finally got one that I want to respond to: 

What’s the story behind your nickname?

I have two main nicknames that I have been called throughout my life so I will go through both of them.

Nickname #1: “Duke”

This name was primarily used by my family when I was a child. I still have a particular affinity for it and I always remember my dad saying it with a lively, happy tone. The story behind it is pretty simple: it sounds an awful lot like Luke. But this was my first nickname and it has always stuck with me. 

I remember as a kid watching the Duke basketball team play and instantly knowing that they were my favorite team (turned out to be a decent pick, got lucky there). I have clear memories of watching J.J. Reddick in his prime college years. He was such a good 3-point shooter that if he was ever on a fast break he would pull up from behind the arc to shoot instead of taking the easy layup. I am still a Duke fan and have yet to make a March Madness bracket where I don’t have Duke winning it all. 

Maybe my parents know more about exactly why the name Duke was chosen. It is still a name I will still respond to even today. 

Nickname #2: “Von”

Neither of my nicknames are that crazy or require storied explanation. Von is just an abbreviation of my last name. It is a bit less of a mouthful than VonEschen. There were a couple people in college who actually called me “Esch”, but that never fully caught on. But Von was what I went by often while I was in the Navy. It is far more common in the Navy to go by your last name. My last name quickly got condensed when person after person struggled to pronounce the foreign, weird looking name. I still think it is not that daunting of a name, it looks worse than it is. Just sound it out – VonEschen: “Von” – “Esch” – “en”. 

Anyway, Von was my name for a lot of people over the last six years. I liked Von a lot as well. It is simple but unique enough where there aren’t three other John’s or Jack’s always around with my same name. Von is the only nickname I have had that has truly rivaled the frequency of use as my real name. Luke and Von both started to blend together in my brain. 

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I remember reading the Inheritance Series (Eragon Books) when I was a teenager. I do not remember exactly but there is a concept in the books related to having a “True Name”. This name is not given to you and can only be discovered through an intense, magical self-reflection process. The name embodies the essence and core of who you are as an individual. Once known, it is extremely dangerous to share this name with other people as they can wield the power of your True Name to essentially control you. 

I do not think I have found my True Name yet. Maybe I will come across it someday when I am ready.