My last last name is grandson. In portuguese.

Yes, I know. My first name is hard to pronounce. You can call me Ade (ah-DEH).

This is actually my grandfather's name. Adeildo. My family calls me Neto, means "grandson" in Portuguese. Though hard to say and spell, I love it because I always carry his memory with me whenever I say "Hi, I'm Adeildo".

The story goes deeper. Growing up in Brazil, names like mine are... not common. And when I moved to the United States for college, I quickly realized that "Adeildo Vieira Silva Neto" wasn't exactly the easiest name to say.

And, as you can imagine, my first few weeks at Duke were all about creative pronunciations. "A-del-do?" "Ah-dill-doh?" "...A?" Do you have a nickname?

I learned to smile and gently correct, but eventually I just started introducing myself as Ade. It stuck. It's simple, it's me, and it saves everyone a bit of anxiety after trying to pronounce it.

But there's something beautiful about carrying a name with so much weight. My grandfather was a hardworking man from the northeast of Brazil. He didn't have the opportunities I have now. Every time someone asks about my name, I get to share a piece of that story.

So yes, my last last name is grandson, and it is a reminder of where I come from!