My Name is NIL
One of my friends asked about my name. Alright, here’s a short note about my name…
The meaning of NIL is ‘THE NILE’ in Turkish/French/German (NIL = THE NILE).
While I was growing up, it wasn’t a very common name. It was a feminine, unique, modern, and fancy name, and it still is. I have always loved my name. My parents chose our names from nature. However, when I first realized that in English it is also used to mean ‘nothing/zero,’ it didn’t sound very feminine. But I embraced it as part of my existentialist side and thought it was cool.
It is common in Scandinavian countries, albeit with different meanings (Nils, Nile, Niles, etc.). Europeans are usually more aware and detail-oriented, so they know what it means. However, for Americans, it can be a bit challenging to grasp, especially over the phone. Even in my home country, people sometimes struggle with the pronunciation of my name during phone conversations (since it is a one-syllable word, pronounced like ‘Bill’). So when I first moved to NYC, I started using a nickname alongside it. The nickname still derived from my name. I was already using ‘LIN‘ as my nickname for certain internet things when I needed to use the name NIL=LIN (simply reversing the letters), and then I added two more letters to make it LINDA 🙂 I use Linda Nil in my professional life.
Nil Taskin
