Hello my name is Laura, LJ and Rara.

Laura is the name I use with my friends and strangers. It is my given name. It identifies me with the most people. Unfortunately it is a name I share with a lot of people. I don’t like it when people have the same name as me; I like to be unique.

LJ is the name I go by with my family. It is what I’ve been called since I was a little baby. The story goes my dad was a big Michael Jordan fan and since he goes by MJ I would go by LJ. I feel very attached to the name and it is an intimate one for me. Not many people know that I go by LJ at home.

Rara is the name my sister gave me when she was learning to talk. She couldn’t say Laura because the L was hard to say so Rara was developed. It is a personal name used between me and her.

Hello my name is not: Lora/Lara

I don’t like it when people spell my name wrong. I pronounce my name LAH-rah not LOR-ah or LAIR-ah. This identifies me as a Bostonian because we hit the A sound a lot harder. My dad calls me LOR-ah but my mom and I say LAH-rah.