*Christopher Stewart learned early that a name could shape an introduction before she entered the room.
The 40-year-old New Yorker believes her parents anticipated that reality when they chose a first name more commonly associated with white men. Their goal, she said, was to give their Black daughter another tool for navigating racial and gender discrimination, TODAY reports.
“They knew that being a woman — and a Black woman — meant I would face obstacles,” Stewart said. “They gave me the education, the experience, the manners and the integrity. They also gave me a name they believed would be dominant on paper and help me get my foot in the door.”
Stewart said the meaning behind that choice became clearer once she encountered bias herself.
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“When you’re moving through the world and you start experiencing discrimination or racism, or you see people changing their names to be recognized, it all clicked,” she said. “My parents were definitely ahead of their time.”
Her name once felt more complicated than empowering. Teachers expected boys to respond during attendance, and Stewart often used the nickname “Chrissy” while growing up in the Bronx. That changed in her late 20s, when she decided the nickname no longer represented her.
“I thought, ‘I’m a woman now. I love myself. My name is Christopher.’”
Stewart carried that confidence into New York’s male-dominated restaurant business, where she built a career as a chef before moving into reservations management. Her name sometimes created tension before interviews began. Stewart recalled a celebrity chef refusing to believe she was the applicant he had called.
“He said, ‘I don’t have time to play games with you. When Christopher Stewart gets home, tell him to call me,’” she said.
The reactions to her name have varied, but Stewart views the initial surprise as an opening rather than a limitation.
“It gets me in the room,” she said. “After that, it’s up to me.”
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