Nina. That is the name that was given to me at birth. Most people recognize it as spanish. In spanish my name means girl. Which in this world? There are a lot of comments which convey girls and women being useless,  like we should only be in the kitchen or the bedroom making babies. People thinking they know exactly what's best for girls like girls are a barbie doll they can dress up and toy with. Guys pushing girls around and putting them down, like an old notebook tossed into the trash without a second thought. It feels like a bright pink flag on the tongue. I know I got my name after a song my tiny nonna sang, it doesn’t help ease the meaning much.

Every time I say ‘I’m Nina’ it feels like a lie. My heart is telling me to say a different name. A name related to space. My mom always loved space. She always has and most likely always will. She passed the love of space onto me when I was born. Her love was like a scientists dream, full of learning and reading. She went to space camp. She watched the challenger explode as it went up while she sat in a class where she learned what it took. She trained to actually, physically, go up into space. My love is like the dream of an artists, the stars moving and making new constellations, an extremely colourful sky. I like watching the old rocket videos. Looking at pictures of the planets. Reading deep space articles. I adore galaxies, planets, and the names they give constellations and stars. I want it to more than just a love, I want it to be a part of me.

Circinus. A small faint galaxy in the southern sky. First defined in 1756. The galaxy is like a beautiful piece of latte art. The swirl around it and all the stars within its reach. It’s gorgeous. I like the name too. It’s different, unique. It doesn’t come with expectations or stereotypes. The name itself is latin for compass. Like a compass looks north I look to my future. I hear the name and I think ‘Greek’ or ‘Unique’ not ‘female’ or ‘the same’. You say circinus and you think of the curious eye of a child as they discover something for the first time.

Arcturus. The fourth brightest star viewable with a naked eye. The brightest star in the Northern celestial hemisphere. 170 times as luminous in space as the sun. Although due to the distance it is from the earth, the light doesn’t reach us much. As a kid I would often stare out my window at the stars when everyone else was asleep. Naming the stars myself and making my own constellations. Arcturus was a part of a smiley face. His name was George. I found out later on that my favorite star was called Arturus. I hear Arcturus and think ‘silver’ and ‘bright’, not ‘pink’ or ‘dull’

Nix. One of the planet pluto's moons. It was found 4 years after I was born. I think that’s amazing. Nix is a colorful little moon. Albeit very small I personally believe it’s quite pretty. I can definitely relate to the colorful part. Nix was named for the greek goddess of darkness, Nyx. Nyx was the goddess of the night. I see myself almost like a night owl, huddled on a tree branch at night surveying their surroundings. Nix is one of the primordial gods who emerged at the dawn of creation. She was a child of Khaos. I find the name Nix beautiful, unique and different. Viva la Pluto!

I think I like Nix or Arcturus as a name. They’re both unique, both indict a type of curiousness around how I got it. Yeah. One day soon, I hope to change my name to either Nix or Arcturus.