I've had a love-hate relationship with my name since childhood. I changed my last name when I got married and kept it after the divorce.

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• Growing up, my names were mispronounced so often I considered changing them.
• Kids made fun of my maiden name by tying it to accentuated physical characteristics.
• While names can come and go, connections remain—so I decided to leave my name alone.

My maiden name has 20 letters, with half residing at the end — Sheryl Lynn Sirotinsky.

Imagine growing up with an uncommon spelling for your first name, "S" instead of "C," and a last name people tripped over.