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Names have a kind of weight.

They can connect us to family, or sometimes they make us stick out.

What was it like growing up with the last name, um, B1?

Growing up I felt like I had a name that I couldn't quite explain.

People would say, well, where's your name from?

And it was kind of like, you know, you're asking too many questions, but really I didn't know the answer.

This week, how one name brought two families together.

It's the StoryCore podcast from NPR. I'm Camila Kashani.

Kisha Bradley was raised with the last name, um, B1, a Camarunian name, and not a common one.

As a kid, she knew it stuck out, not just from other kids who didn't have African sounding last names, but also her own family.

There were only three of us with the last name.

Me, my brother, and my dad.

No other family member had the last name.

When she was in middle school in Atlanta, Kisha was teased about her name so much that she wanted to change it.

And her dad, Atiba, told her she could eventually, but he also wanted her to understand why they had it.

I was hoping that over time you would recognize the significance and the symbolism and begin to embrace it.

That happened, but it wasn't until I fully understood all of the things that took place.

Atiba didn't inherit the name. He chose it before she was born, but explaining why he did that means going to another continent decades ago to meet a different family of ambiwans.

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