Say my name — twice!
All in a Name – Double Surnames
At Armijo, there are hundreds of students who have a double last name, either joined with or without a hyphen, but only about eight of them have a doubled last name.
April Gonzalez-Gonzalez isn’t really sure where she got her name, although both of her parents had the same last name and they chose to hyphenate it for their children. Her sister and her brother both graduated from Armijo. She even has three cousins who have graduated, too, but Gonzalez-Gonzalez is the only family member still attending.
When she graduates, she hopes to go to Cal Berkeley but then perhaps she will take to the skies. “I always wanted to be a flight attendant,” she said.
Gonzalez-Gonzalez hasn’t met the other Armijo student (Jose Gonzalez Gonzalez) who shares a version of her last name, but she’s used to hearing comments about both her first and last name, like “Why do you have a name after a month?” and “Why do you have a double last name?” she said. Despite those questions, she said that she would not like to change her name, especially not her first name. “I just like how no one really has the name April,” she said.
Another student whose last name is doubled up is Jose Cazares Cazares. His name originated with his grandparents in Mexico and, like Gonzalez-Gonzalez, he is the only one in his family who is currently attending Armijo.
Also like Gonzalez-Gonzalez, Cazares said that people often ask him why he has the same last name, but at least they say it is very easy to pronounce. While his first name is also easy to pronounce, he would consider a different one. “If I could create my own first name, it would be Mateo,” he said.
Cazares Cazares is considering becoming an electrician in the future, but for the present, when he’s not in school, his favorite thing to do is play soccer with his friends.
Other students who have duplicate names include Steven Hernandez Hernandez, Veronica Rodriguez Rodriguez, Valentin and Camila Vera Vera and Emmanuel Mejia Mejia.
