my name

For my entire life I have had to explain upon first meeting anyone new the origin of my name. I would like to get this out of the way as quickly as possible. My full name is Vardis Ellis Kriaris and its a whopper of a name,especially when you are 8 years old. Yes I am of Greek descent,in fact more rightly Cretan,[no jokes please] Three of my grandparents migrated to the U.S. from the island of Crete in the early 20Th century. The tradition among Greeks is to name the first born son after first the paternal grandfather,in my case Vardis and the second name the maternal which was Elias,but for some reason the name was morphed into Ellis,which I still cannot explain. perhaps to make it more American? how funny is that. My last name Kriaris is also a small short legged breed of goat that wanders the rocky hills of Crete,I always thought that appropriate esp. when you get to know me. My nick name is Vori, there are a number of stories about its origin, the one I prefer is the following. When my papou [grandfather] arrived here a railroad Foreman for whom he worked renamed him Vori, they say he was German, but there is no proof of that. I am second generation born here,which make me far less "Greek" than the image of the Gus and Nicks you find in pizza and diner restaurants thru out the states, although as I mature the Greek traits become more apparent to me. I am hard working, stubborn, self sufficient, opinionated and slightly suspicious of others motives. True to the image of Zorba, being spontaneous, hedonistic and a fatalist make me a proud member of the Greek-American family.