Isis Young called the local Papa John’s to place an order. It was 2014, her freshman year at the University of Florida, and the guard from Berlin, New Jersey, wanted to treat herself to a pizza dinner, with light cheese and extra sauce.

The Papa John’s employee asked for a name on the order, So Young gave her full name. The employee wasn’t sure if they heard correctly, so Young said her name again. The employee paused before answering her.

“They were like ‘We don’t think we can serve you,’” Young said of the Papa John’s worker. “And I was like ‘Are you serious?’”

That year, the terrorist militant group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, ISIS, gained prominence. Stories about ISIS dominated the news for much of that fall. And in the moment, Young’s association with that name prevented her from getting her dinner.

Young is one of the many people whose first name, Isis, forces her to unwillingly share an identity with a dark entity. Isis was the 575th most popular name in the United States in 2013, according to babycenter.org. By 2016, it fell to 3,101st. Still, Young hasn’t felt too affected by the unwanted connection and has managed to find the beauty in her name and disassociate from any negative aspects of it.

The name “Isis” comes from mythology, the Greek name for an Egyptian goddess. That was part of the reason Young got her name.

Young’s mother, Denise, was a fan of a TV show called “The Secret of Isis.” The main character of the show was called Andrea Thomas. When she’d say “oh mighty Isis,” she’d transform into her alter ego: Isis, a superhero who took after the Egyptian goddess.

Her mom still calls Young and asks her “How you doing, mighty Isis?” Young didn’t know anyone else with her name but she grew up loving it.

“I usually got a lot of compliments about my name,” Young said. “It was different.”

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Young first remembers finding out about the “other” ISIS by seeing a news report on television, which took her aback. Her fellow teammate, Gabrielle Cooper, went through something similar.

Cooper has a 9-year-old niece named Isis. Cooper said her niece has never had an issue with her name. But Cooper does remember being surprised hearing it on TV.

“It was weird that it called itself ISIS,” Cooper said. “I just didn’t feel like that was a scary enough name for your group. When I think of Isis, I think of my niece. I’m not thinking of no terrorist group.”

Both Cooper and Young said they haven’t had any issue separating the name Isis from the group. Part of that has been with the use of a nickname.

When Young introduces herself, she usually says “My name is Isis, but you can call me Ice.” Cooper said she calls her niece Ice, and that she saved Young’s name in her phone as “Ice” the first time she met her.

Young has used that nickname to her advantage in her ventures outside basketball. She works as a broadcaster on Orange Television Network and has a segment in which she sits down and interviews other SU athletes. She calls the segment “The Ice Box.”

The nickname has sometimes developed into jokes on the court, too. When Young hits a big shot, her teammates will say that she has “ice in her veins.”

Still, she prefers for people to call her Isis in more formal situations and doesn’t shy away from the name.

“I didn’t think about it until you just said,” SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said recently. “… All in all I try and call (my players) what their preference is.”

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Aside from a nickname, Young’s teammates also tease her about her name, which she finds endearing.

Her teammates crack jokes on the way to road games, saying that there may be issues with her name at the airport. Sometimes, when she’s on the phone with friends, they’ll joke that the government is listening in because of the mention of the word Isis. Other times, when friends want to tell her that she’s great, they’ll say, “Isis, you’re the bomb.”
Young doesn’t mind the jokes, she said, and added that they haven’t gotten old. She finds ways to embrace them.

“Some people went up to me one time and said, ‘Oh my god, you’re dangerous,’” Young said. “And I was like, ‘You know what? I like that.’ I’m kind of dangerous, on the court at least. I’m a regular person, I eat ice cream.”

Laughing off the jokes and having a sense of understanding is how Young has been able to contend with a name that has so many negative connotations.

She feels empowered knowing she was named after a goddess and tries to emulate one in her life. She feels like goddesses are strong in who they are, something she feels she is.

Young feels no ill will toward the Papa John’s that wouldn’t take her order that one night, but she could have. She could have taken her friends jokes personally. She could have lost the meaning of her name.

That would mean more negativity, though. That’s not what Young wants to do.

“It’s a shame it’s being used in this lighting,” Young said. “I’ll just represent a good light of Isis.”

Published on November 13, 2017 at 10:44 pm

Contact Tomer: tdlanger@syr.edu | @tomer_langer