Sandra Soliz

Bi-Literacy Strategies
Dr. Gomez

What does my name mean?

The name Sandra comes from a Greek baby name, meaning Alexander a feminine form of that
name and it means defender of men. It comes from the name Alexandra. My mother told me
that she did not have a name for me when I was born so a relative gave her the idea to name me
Yanira. She had liked the name Sandra because someone that worked for the mayor of the city
was name like that and my mom thought she looked distinguished and elegant. For some reason
she liked the name Sandra because it was not too popular during those times and she did not
want me to have an ordinary name since I was an extraordinary miracle child that was born in 7
months without much chances to live. Maybe this is why she had not had a chance to think of
what to name me. I was hospitalized for many months before I was released from the hospital.

My middle name means strong and mighty which coincidentally goes with my first name.
My Mother said she really liked my middle name and that is the reason she called me Yanira
most of the time instead of Sandra. I got use to her calling me Yanira and eventually it was
shortned to Yani. I really like being called that and growing up I did not know any other
Sandra Yanira in the small town where I was born.

After reading the book My Name is Maria Isabel, I am a bit surprised that I was not named like
Any of my relatives. My sister and my brother were name after relatives though. What I find a
bit ironic now that I think about it, is that even though I look more like my grandmother from
my Dads side, my sister was named after her!

My maiden name is Ramos. Ramos from my mothers side. It is weird but my mom said my
dad was not around when I was born so when they asked her who the father was she told them
but they only gave me her last name not his. My sister on the other hand has my fathers last
name since. Anyhow, no matter what the case may be, I have always been proud of being
known as Sandra Yanira Ramos.