Autobiography- Max Elfenbein
Lobitz Period 6
Chapter 1
My Name
My name is Max Elfenbein. That ridiculous sounding last name came from my dad’s german family. Elfenbein means “elephant ivory” in german. Elfenbein is too long, too hard to spell, and too hard to pronounce. Every new teacher pronounces it wrong, but hopefully that’ll be easier for my brother since I came through the grade first. The most common mispronunciation of my name is Elfenbean. From that mispronunciation I get the nickname Bean Bean or Bean. I love my nickname. Don’t get me wrong, Max is a fine name but I like being Bean because that name is just different and goofy and I feel that it matches the way I act.
The first name Max comes from my great grandfather, Max Elfenbein. My dad was very close to his grandfather growing up, his grandparent were his favorite people. My dad named nearly all of his pets Max when he was growing up. Cats, Dogs, Fish all named Max. I guess I’m just another one of my dad’s pets. Just kidding. He named me after the greatest man he knew not a mutt. I’m also very close with my grandfather like my dad was with his. We even do some activities together that my dad did with his grandfather like playing golf and going to baseball games. I think that the relationship between a boy and his grandfather is very important. My pop pop is my best friend. I have spent lots of time with him just like my dad and his grandfather.
My name is just Max, not shortened from Maxwell or Maximillion. Just Max. Short and sweet, easy to pronounce, contrasts from my last name like a giraffe to a jelly fish. Also I like that smooth “x” sound at the end. For a long time when my brother was little, he couldn’t make that “x” sound. To him I was just “Ma”. Then one day he finally made that “x” sound and for the rest of the day all that would come out of his mouth was “Maxxxx”. When I reached middle school there were 3 Max’s in my grade so it could get confusing for teachers and friends at times. I am good friends with one of the other Max’s and that is another reason my friends call me Bean, so they don’t get me mixed up with other Max.
I don’t have a middle name. My parents have never had an explanation for this, just they didn’t feel a middle name was necessary. I have mixed feelings about the missing name. On one hand its weird to not have a middle name, but on the other hand, it has the potential for me to make it something awesome without really changing the name my parents gave me from one thing to another. Some possible middle name choices for me would be Hurricane, Power, or Le’Veon. Max Power would be a pretty cool middle name.