What's in a Name?

Chase is called 'Thies' (pronounced 'ches'). It is a well-known town here in Senegal and the closest name to 'Chase' that people know. It's better than 'Chaise' which is very similar in pronunciation to 'Chase' but means 'chair' in French.
Crystal is a name in French, so though they pronounce it a little differently, she has the same name (and smells just as sweet).
Chad is the name of a country in Africa, spelled 'Tchad' in French, so once I tell them that it is the same as the country, they know how to say my name. One of my professors at the university could not believe that I am an American and a Christian with an Arabic name.
Reynolds is the name of a well-known (locally), British brand of ink pens. So I usually tell someone my name like this: 'Chad - like the country, Reynolds - like the ink pens'.
But then there are the neighborhood kids who play in the park in front of our house. They call us 'Too-bob' (which means 'foreigner', though they don't use it in a bad way). One day I tried to teach them my name, Mr. Tchad. We practiced it for a few minutes, and I thought they had it down. Then one of them yelled at me, "Hey, Mr. Too-bob."