my name is dugald

like googled with a d

Dug

Sep 02, 2024

Doug - ald. No, Doogheld. Dog-lad? Doog-led? Dugland? Dug-gold?

Who and what are you?

I have had many conversations about my name since I could talk.

Growing up with NF1 + being called Dugald, I would feel a bit exposed and vulnerable.

I felt an invisible spotlight on me when I wanted to blend in.

I was named after several other Dugalds who came before me and I often wonder how they felt about being Dugald.

I would occasionally meet another Dugal, Dougal, some Doug’s but only one other Dugald.

We are rare in the world.

People look at it and are not quite sure how to pronounce it if reading it off a page or email. Usually asking where it’s from (more on that further down).

If they were to hear it in person, there would be the back-and-forth of repeating it back and telling them how to pronounce my name.

Over the years I have had different nicknames too.

The ones you get from being a little kid or that have been said through being silly or thought of by friends and family across the years….

They are Dugie, Doogs, Doogie, Doogen, Dug, Dugaldo, Duglad, Dugland, Duglandia, Doug, dugdugdug, Duglett, Dugald McDougall, Doogie McDoo, Dugman…..the list goes on and I love them all.

But your name is your name and I think it’s nice to know for people to say it right.

It used to annoy me as a kid. I wanted to feel normal and not feel that invisible spotlight.

But like NF1, I used it as a way to make me stronger and more resilient.

I began to also laugh at the mispronunciations or misspellings, becoming an archive in my head that I recall and laugh at randomly.

I grew out of the discomfort when I realised what a gift and opportunity it was when I was a teenager.

It became a great conversation starter and a personal way for someone to get to know the first thing about me quickly and have that moment of connection.

For a minute I have their attention (at least I think I did), knowing that I am teaching them something important.

1. How to pronounce Dugald.
2. Where it’s from.
3. What other names I can be called.

This was before I came up with my by-line though, so it was a little bit more boring than what it is now. . .

Quick side-step 1.0 🚶🏼‍♂️‍➡️ meaning of the name Dugald

Quick side-step 2.0 🚶🏼‍♂️‍➡️ meaning of my surname McLachlan

Quick side-step 1.0 + Quick side-step 2.0 = Dark Stranger Son of Stranger. 🤔 . . . it all makes sense now.

Here’s how I landed on “like googled with a d”.

I was working at Square, helping small businesses in Australia with their payment systems and websites.

I used to answer the phones with “Welcome to Square, this is Dugald, how can we help you today?”

The person on the other end would say: “What was your name? Stewart, Ralph, Rupert, Henry?”

I don’t know how they got to any of these, as confused as they were, the thought crossed my mind, am I a mumbler? How did they hear it like that?

I would laugh and go through how to say it….”Doo-ghald” and give them the spiel (how to pronounce it, where it’s from….), it would take a few times for them to get it right and I realised I was wasting our time and they needed my help with other things.

So I landed on “it’s like googled with a d…” and they simply got it. Just like that. 💡

My ears always used to prick up when someone said they had googled something, I thought they said my name...

Since then, that’s how I go about it whenever I meet someone new.

“Like googled with a d”.

Quick, funny and easy to understand. 🍻

So if you also have an unusual or rare name, embrace it and use it as a way to make it the best ice-breaker with the people you meet in your life.

It’s been good having a rare name.

I also had a rare condition in NF1, leading to a rare cancer of MPNST in my spine.

I get to live rarely, die rarely... . all while smilin’.

In the spirit of being vulnerable about my whole life experience, cancer, my name, all these weird meanderings, stories, poems and things I’m sharing.

Go check out my friend Steph’s writing and podcast.