My name is Tautala Sifia Tuitagava’a Kata and I will be sharing the meaning of my name and where it came from. My name came from my Samoan side of the family. I am Tongan and Samoan because my mother is half Tongan and half Samoan, and she is the person who named me.

My name Tautala Sifia Tuitagava’a are family names from my Samoan side.The reason why my mother named me was to remember and honor our Samoan side of the family. My mother’s father is my grandfather, his name is Va’aimalae Toso Asiata Fonoti and he comes from Faleapuna, Western Samoa.

Although my family takes great pride in our heritage, some people in school would make fun of me just because I’m Tongan. They would call me a "horse" and even call me “horse shit." At first I started to think maybe being Tongan is a bad thing because of how they were making fun of me and calling me names. I started to cry and cut myself. I believed them and started to think negatively about myself. I started to hate being Tongan because maybe they were right to call me “horse shit” and I probably should hate my culture.

I started to cry and cut myself more. They would see me crying but it seemed like they didn’t even care. I used to be friends with some of these people in 6th grade and I wondered why they would do all of this to me. But then one day, a boy noticed that I was crying. He decided to apologize to me for calling me those names. It meant a lot to me that he apologized and realized my pain, but it was not enough to change the behavior of everyone else in the friend group. I made a decision to forget about it and all of the boys started being a little bit nicer to me. They still call me “horse” or “horse shit” to this day, but I decided to just ignore them and just be proud of my culture. I’m going to be proud of living up to my name.

The meaning of Tautala is “to talk,” and I do like to talk. Sifia is a unique Samoan name and although it doesn’t have a direct translation, Sifia is my great grandmother's sister who was very close to her. Tuitagava’a is a special family name of a Samoan princess who was known for doing Samoan Siva or dances in the Samoan culture. My last name Kata comes from my Tongan side of the family and the meaning of Kata is “laugh.”

I am named after my moms sister Aponiva Tautala Fonoti and my grandfather's only sister Aponiva Tautala Asiata Iuli. Tautala is the middle name of my aunty and my great aunt. My mother would have named me Aponiva but she decided to have my first name as Tautala because there were too many Aponiva’s in the family. And Tautala just sounded nice to my mom. Sifia is a unique Samoan name and it doesn't really have a meaning but it is my great grandmother’s sister’s name. Tuitagava’a is named after a chief's daughter or princess who is known for her graceful Samoan siva or dance.

In conclusion, my mother named me because she wanted her kids to remember the culture, family, and respect. I was named for the gifts of talking and laughing. Although some ignorant kids decided to bully me and try to take away my smile, I’ve decided that I would rather be proud of my culture and live up to my name, which tells me to talk and smile often. I have love for my Samoan family. To me, my name is a reminder to remember where you came from and it is important for me to honor and remember why my mom gave me the name “Tautala.”

© Tautala. All rights reserved. If you are interested in quoting this story, contact the national team and we can put you in touch with the author’s teacher.