Over the course of the next few weeks, while I am posting about my adventures, I will also be posting a few short pieces regarding myself!

The first post in my “About Me” profile will be covering the origins of my name, where it came from and what it means to me.

My name is a huge part of my identity. Personally, I love it’s originality and the story behind it. My full name is Katherine Elise Mifsud.

Katherine in a textbook definition means “pure.” My mother tells people the name is for my grandmother Catherine, in reality, I am actually named for the sophisticated, classy, and respectable Katharine Hepburn. Although when she lectures me, she transitions to the Spanish variation, Catalina.  I think my mother attempts to keep her beloved Katharine’s beauty and sophistication alive through me…sorry to disappoint mom.

While I am not German, Elise is a derivative of Elsa. The German part came from my father. One of his best friends, a fellow soldier whom he served with, was German. My dad met during training in Germany. Both my parents were very close to him, so my dad wanted a German name to tribute him. While my parents loved Elsa, Elise flowed more with the pronunciation.

The most interesting part of my identity is my last name, Mifsud, pronounced Mif-sood. It’s origins are complicated, but the story is unique. I have been all over California, and have not met a single Mifsud, who I was not directly related to. Mifsud is Maltese, from Malta. For those who don’t know, Malta is an island in the Mediterranean. It lies between Sicily and Northern Africa. Due to it’s location, it can be hard to determine whether the name is Maltese or Arabic, since much of Malta was under Muslim influence for awhile. The largest impact of their rule being the language, Maltese, directly derived from Arabic. The language itself is strong and harsh. My grandmother spoke it. Mifsud is actually extremely common in Malta, as Smith is in the United States. But here, it’s special and it belongs to my family.