My name, Dallas, is a city in Texas. In the Gaelic Elements, Dallas is a waterfall field. In Spanish, my name represents a Scythe. My name can mean Beauty. It can mean Death. A Navy blue. Navy blue is a dark, strong color. You always know when its there. It hits you in the face, sometimes it can hit you like a pile of bricks, sometimes it can hit you in the place where it means most. The heart. 

My name triggers the brain of others to think I am a guy. My name is now considered gender-neutral, even though I’ve never met another female named Dallas. It could be that I am just the outlier. If you were to look at me compared to others you can see that in most cases I can be considered the outlier. If you were to compare me physically, I am a 16-year-old female who is 6’1. If you look at the statistics, I would be an outlier. If you were to compare my interests and goals, I am a 16-year old who has known since she was 7 that she wanted to go into Atmospherical Science when she went to college and stuck with that. How many people have you met can say they’ve done that?  One more example, my family, you don't meet a lot of people named “Dallas”, so compared to my brothers that are named Damien and Austin again, I am the outlier.

I wish I would’ve known how others look at my name. What do they think of when they hear my name? What does my name mean to them? I want to know if I'm more than Dallas—the girl who came out as young as 13? Or  Dallas—the girl who is obsessed with the band. Could I be Dallas—the girl who is smart, carefree and accepting? The girl that was taught to accept anyone for who they are at a young age? The girl who will show respect to anyone and everyone that she comes across? Maybe even, the girl who loves to have a good time with her friends and always puts everyone else's happiness before her own?

My Name, Dallas. A name I would never change because being me had created the image I was to present. The teachers who say my name, Dallas, and then talk about the good things, even to my face. The friends who try to get my attention using my name, Dallas, to show me something that’ll make us roll around laughing until our stomachs hurt. These actions happen because of the impact I have presented with a purpose. The purpose of making lives better and even happier. 

My name, Dallas, means only what I present it to mean. I will continue to show the good qualities that I’ve already shown, so they will know my name, Dallas.