Dallin

Until I moved to Snowflake, my name always seemed unique. I hardly ever met other Dallins. Usually people said my name wrong the first time they tried, saying daylinn most of the time. Then in Snowflake, where the Church has a much greater presence, I found I shared my name with many others. There was even a Dallin McCleve in my grade, which I though was crazy, since that's my mom's maiden name.
I've always known my namesake was Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, but I never could have imagined how close to the source of my name I could get to until coming to BYU. After I picked my major, I noticed one of the teachers in the department's name was Dallin D. Oaks. There's no way they couldn't be related. Sure enough, he's his son. Near the end of the second semester of my freshman year, I went to his office to see if I could get a research position with him. It was a little bizarre when he asked me my name. I replied, and though nothing further was said, I could only imagine what was going through his head. This kid, too? How many kids were named after my dad? I suddenly realized that we were both named for the same person. It was weird realizing that, I guess because it seems rare to meet or come close to meeting your namesake. Some may be named for a grandparent or parent, so that wouldn't be weird, but to me, I never thought it would really happen. Around the same time, Men's Chorus did a concert with the other BYU choirs at the Conference Center Theater built onto the side of the main auditorium. Among the audience were Elder Dallin H. Oaks and Elder Uchtdorf. The Men's Chorus pianist, Jared Oaks, is Elder Oaks grandson. After the performance, I saw Elder Oaks go up and congratulate his grandson, about five feet in front of me. I knew this was my chance. They were related--they could bond another time. This was important. "Elder Oaks," I said. He turned, somewhat surprised, said, "Hello," shook my hand, and then said to his grandson, "I'm parked in the parking garage down this hall. Let's go." They rushed off, and the rest of the BYU choirs followed in pursuit. But I was satisfied. Now, if one of us died, at least I could say I'd met my namesake.
Fast forwarding until after my mission, I got a job with another professor in the department, and the other day, Dr. Oaks, whose office is right next to the one I work in, came in and was talking with my boss and me. My boss had to leave, and as she did, she said, "Dallin, will you watch my office?" I suddenly realized yet another golden opportunity to learn about my name. Dr. Dallin Oaks and I then had an interesting conversation about Cyrus Dallin, our namesake's namesake, about the rise of the name of Dallin, etc. Both of us came to the realization we've never met a nonmember named Dallin. I wonder if I ever will. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for naming me Dallin, although Brigham would have been interesting, too.