My Mother Misspelled my Name

How I became my mother’s favorite child

Originally published in Insider

I was supposed to be a boy. I was going to be named David, yet instead of segueing right into Davida, my mother took that D and made my middle name Danielle. Then, for whatever reason, she named me Elana. Not Ilana, or Alana, or a name that people could actually pronounce, but Elana, only you pronounce it like Alana.

Five letters that would define me and all those little kids everywhere who would not have a keychain or a premade souvenir with their name on…