An A-name, a Hamilton lyric, and a wish for every kind of child.
I have always been drawn to names that start with A. My daughter is Ashley. My niece is Avery. So when it came time to name the children in The Hallway of Doorknobs, an A-name felt like home to me.
I’ll admit I’m also a Hamilton fan, and somewhere along the way I realized my Ashley fits right into the song “Your Obedient Servant.” A. Ham, A. Burr, and my own A. Hall. It still makes me smile. I bring that up because the next name in the hallway has a Hamilton story of its own. Read about Manuel on Monday.
All of that is to say, I love an A-name. And Amira is the one that stayed.
It means princess in Arabic. It also means commander, and leader. I wanted a girl in the hallway whose name carried that kind of strength, a reminder that a young girl can lead, and can know her own worth.
I also wanted the children in this book to look and sound like the real world children live in. Kids come from every kind of family and every kind of background. Their names should reflect that too. Amira is part of making sure more children can open this book and find someone who feels a little like them.
And if I am honest, I just love the way it sounds. Some names simply feel good to say. Amira is one of them.
So Amira walks the hallway now, carrying strength in her name and a bit of my own heart in that first letter.
This is part of a series about how the children in The Hallway of Doorknobs: A Journey to the Feelings Inside got their names.
- Behind the name: Jack - October 12, 2026
- Behind the name: Sara - October 7, 2026
- Behind the name: Manuel - October 5, 2026
your writing is so interesting
Thanks for reading and enjoying it.
I love that! A. Hall. I’m also a Hamilton fan so that struck my funny bone. Thank you for sharing.
Yeah I laugh every time I think of it. And she doesn’t like musicals and doesn’t care that she fits in perfectly with that song.
What resonated most for me is the sense that a young girl can be strong and know her own worth. I had never heard the name Amira before, so I also like that it’s not just a traditional American name and that it is Arabic. So that representation of female strength and the wider world is appealing to me.
Thank you! I really love that too, especially the idea of girls seeing strength, worth, and representation in stories from a young age.