The boy with a girl's name

The beginning of the end began when I was born. My name is Dana, a strange name for a boy but it’s the name my mother wanted me to own. Apparently, there was a male actor named Dana and she liked the name. At the same time and for reasons unknown to me, many other mothers were busy naming their daughters “Dana” as well. This happened so frequently that most people I’d encounter wondered why I had a girl’s name. I wondered the same thing. Just once I wanted to meet another boy named Dana but in the entirety of my childhood, that would never happen.  I would, however experience opportunity after opportunity to feel self-conscious about my name.