What’s a palindrome? It’s my name. 

You can spell it forwards and backward the same. 

Like, “A man a plan a canal Panama.”

My name is a family name on my mother’s side. 

She was a great-aunt.

I wish I had met my namesake. 

If she was anything like her sister, my grandmother, she would have been feisty. 

In the Old Testament, Hannah was the mother of Samuel.

It is Hebrew, despite the fact I didn’t grow up Jewish. 

I am German, English, and Scottish. 

Go figure. 

Once I won a contest at my friend’s Bat Mitzvah

For the name that has the most amount of similar letters to Hanukkah. 

I had 5 out of 8, depending upon how it is spelled. 

Far more than the Sarahs, Jills, and Jessicas. 

My name means favor of grace. 

I remember sitting on a bus when I was little and an older lady asked me, “What is your name?”

“Hannah,” I answered.

She looked at me wistfullly, “Hannah means gift from God.”

I felt so special. 

That is not what Hannah means. 

I could have been Alexandra, called Alexis for short. 

Named after my mother’s sister, my aunt, who everyone just calls Plip. 

I am glad they decided to name me Hannah. 

Hannah Banana, Hans, Wans, Wanners. 

I like my name, but sometimes I wish I could have another name, just to see how it feels. 

Like taking on a new identity. 

A new life.