Travis Vankempen? Travis Nelson? Travis Tullis?

I am a Hancock. I always have been. It’s part of my identity. But when I got to thinking about it, I’m a lot of other things too.

My family and extended family KNOWS their family history. We can trace a line all the way back to Adam (Not even kidding). The other day I realized that the only thing that labels me a “Hancock” is the fact that the parents and grandparents in that line were all males, and therefore passed down that specific name. Having the name of Hancock leads to all kinds of questions like, “So are you related to John Hancock?”, or “I knew some Hancocks once. Do you know….”, or “Wow there’s a movie named “Hancock””, or whatever. All because that specific line was all males. I love being a Hancock and being labeled as such. But once I took to analyzing my 16 great-great-grandparents I realized that I’m just as much one of them, as I am a Hancock.

Say, in a hypothetical world (and some people choose to do this) that the maiden name was passed down one generation. Well then I’d be Travis Richardson. What if the maiden name of my dad’s mom was passed down? Travis Wolthius. Or the maiden name two generations. I’d be Travis Flake. You get the idea, but say you threw the 16 names of my great great grandparents in a bowl and picked one out. I could be named Travis Vankempen, Travis Nelson, Travis Stratton, Travis Tullis (nice ring to it!), Travis Kartchner, Travis Smith, Travis Veldhuis (how sweet would that be!), Travis Jansen, Travis Mortenson, Travis Adams (which was the names of one of my mission friends), Travis Leavitt, or Travis Hardy (like the Hardy Boys!).

That blows my mind! All of those names look so strange connected with my first name, simply because I’ve always been and always will be Travis Hancock. I’ve met many an Adams or Smith or Nelson but I or them never even think to look for common relatives, because I am a “Hancock”. I bet you less than 2% of people in the world know the names of their 16 great-greats, let alone relate to and realize that they are just as much their paternal great-great grandma as they are their maternal great-great grandpa.

It makes me wonder. If you lined up my 16 great-great grandparents--- whose genes have all mixed together in one way or another to make the person I am physically, mentally, spiritually, etc..--- I wonder which one I am most like. Kartchner? Jansen? Leavitt?

What’s in a name? A lot. But it’s important, and rather fun, to think about who you’re really made up of and what your name could be if society’s naming system was tweaked just a little bit.