My name is Vance, after my great grandfather. It is an old English name that translates to “very high places,” “marshland,” and “thresher.”
Growing up and through the first few years after college, people called me Farouk. This started as a nickname that an old neighbor had suggested to my parents, since we lived in the Middle East and there is no V- in Arabic. The Arabic name that means “thresher” is Farouk - he who separates (the wheat from the chaff).
My middle name is Edward, after my father.
When I was 24, I had my bar mitzvah (longer story, but I didn’t know about my Jewish heritage for a long time). At my bar mitzvah, I was given my Hebrew name, Raphael, which means he who heals.