A person’s name is supposed to be a unique representation of who they are, but after a look at Facebook names or Google search, most of us realize that our names are anything but unique. It’s no surprise if another person with a similar name lives in Texas or even as close as Southern California, but for our pair of Esmeralda Cruz sophomores, sharing a name and a grade can be a bit of an inconvenience. They also share a PE teacher, although they each have Mr. Trigg at a different time.

Esmeralda Vanessa Brianna Cruz is the older of the two, but only by about three weeks. She’s never met the other Esmeralda Cruz but they have gotten their schedules mixed up in the past. Esmeralda Vanessa Brianna Cruz said, “My grandma wanted this name for me since I was the last child. My name came from my mom.” The younger Esmeralda Cruz was named by her parents who “wanted a name that sounds good in Spanish and English.” In spite of the similarity, both girls said that they would not even consider changing their name because it is special to each of them.

Both Esmeraldas have siblings who have gone to Armijo. In one case, it is sisters Brittany and April. The other had her brother Michael and sister Cecilia attend. Both girls want to go into medicine, one as a veterinarian who plans to graduate from UC Davis or UC Berkeley. The other intends to become an emergency room doctor. Neither of them is involved in sports or clubs right now.

While both of them also answer to Esme or Esmie, they do have their own nicknames a well. Esmeralda Vanessa Brianna Cruz is sometimes called Alda or Ezzy and Esmeralda Cruz is sometimes referred to as Mae Mae or Emma. Are their full names common at all? Well, according to http://howmanyofme.com, there are only 18 of them in the whole country, and we are lucky enough to have two. That’s better than 10%!