Names

In ways, I have had a few different lives within this marvelous one, and different names for each. I was given the names Marianne Geralyn Hoerner at birth, and eventually, I married and added the name Choquet because I thought Marianne Choquet was a lovely name. It lost its fit when I left the marriage and I wanted a different name and was hesitant to return to a name that felt like a regression to girlhood. I love the name Marianne. As I drove to Chicago in January 2017 to begin another chapter of my life, I wondered how I could name myself anew. I was also looking for a pen name. Maili was a name I had chosen for a possible daughter. I like the sound of it and that it describes a gentle breeze in Polynesian. My mother was at the end of her life, and as I said Marianne Maili out loud in the car, I thought that is it, I could be my own daughter, I could mother myself. It was time. Later, I realized how close Maili is to Millie, my beloved mother’s name. Close but different. Like we were. I could have changed my name legally in the U.S., but France and Spain do not accept name changes and I have important French and Spanish identity and fiscal documents and wanted all to match. So my legal name, and the name on my diplomas is Marianne Geralyn Hoerner Choquet.

I am all of these names and honor each of them in my way. I like Marianne most of all. Call me Marianne.