'I'M BATMAN!'
Hi, hey, hello–I’ve come to terms with my name(s).
You may know me as Dre Thomas. But I’m also known to some as Andrea Wilson. I have gone by Adrieana in the past and Andie for a brief period. Who even am I? Allow me to paint you a picture.
What’s in a name?
In the summer of 1989, I was brought into this world and was named Andrea-Adrieana Elice Thomas (yes spelled all kinds of…different). Typically my second and third names are spelled Adriana and Elise but my parents decided on this unique spelling and so, you know, here we are. In addition to the unique spelling, my parents also couldn’t decide on a first name, so they gave me a double first name of Andrea-Adrieana, which honestly I always loved because of all my siblings, I’m the only one with two first names (which further proves that I’m the favorite in this family). Although I’ve always found it interesting that no one in my family has ever called me Andrea-Adrieana, not even my parents so what was the point? The only time I went by the double first name was three random months in 2012.
The way I pronounce one of my first names is Ahn-DRAY-a and according to babynames.com, my name means, manly. I guess this makes sense because, as my mom would explain, the idea behind the name Andrea came after her brother, Andre.
I was born in Oakland, CA, and grew up all over Los Angeles. When I turned 7, my family moved from Watts to Huntington Park (a small neighborhood in South Los Angeles), and I enrolled in a new school. I started the school year a bit late and when my mom and I went to meet my second-grade teacher, he was flabbergasted that my name was Andrea, as there were already three other Andreas in the class. Isn’t that wild?! My teacher, Mr. Doughty (a name I’ll never forget as we’d all secretly called him Mr. Donut), asked if I had any other name I could go by, and boy, did I! And so from second to fifth grade, I was known as Adrieana. It took a bit of getting used to, being Adrieana at school and Andrea at home, but I enjoyed having a different name at school and people not knowing my real name (see? Batman). In sixth grade, I was at a new school, so I said goodbye to being called Adrieana and embraced going by Andrea in and out of school again, though I still held on to the different versions of myself.
Growing up, I was a very shy girl and mostly kept to myself. I spent so much time alone daydreaming and creating a vision for my life that I saw no value in letting others in. Despite my shyness, I often surprised people with my hidden big personality. It was in those moments that I started to discover that there was more to me. I was Andrea—shy, quiet, and always in my room—and I was Adrieana—a girl who joined poetry contests (and won!), organized canned food drives, played sports, directed and acted in after-school plays, and joined clubs. I was loud, sassy, and a handball champion. I WAS HIM! Yet, when I got home, I took the [Adrieana] mask off along with all that personality and ego and I became Andrea again (see? Batman). Why did I do this? I have no idea, but it was fun living between these two worlds, these two versions of myself.
Now let’s pause for a bit because I don’t want to paint a picture as if I never spoke to my family or showed any of my personality at home. When we were young, my siblings and I played together all the time. We made up games and languages, traveled in packs (there were four of us), laughed at the same jokes, and had dinner together every night where my mom would tell stories or we’d sing. However, I treasured the journey of discovering all of who I was and wanted to keep it close.
And then, I entered high school, dun dun dunnnn!
Starting high school was a difficult time not only for me but for everyone in my family (my bad). There were two words my siblings always described me as, three being more of a phrase: mean, weird, and the black sheep. The last two I had no problem with, I actually liked being the weird (creative, unique) sibling, and sure, I can be a black sheep. But mean? No way! Although thinking back on it now, I can see why they might have thought I was mean during high school (was I?). Not only did I not speak to anyone, but when I was forced to, I did so with the biggest attitude—because what do you want? Every time someone asked me a question or tried to involve me in something at home, I saw it as an interruption to the daydream I had going on in my head.
High school was so difficult for me because it was the first time in my life that I didn’t have the opportunity to discover a new version of myself. I couldn’t be one person at school and another at home; I was just Andrea, or better known as Angela’s or Lawrence’s sister (my brother and sister were the cool kids in high school, good for them). This led to an early identity crisis and because of it, I experienced depression. At the time, I didn’t have the language to describe it; I didn’t think I was depressed or going through something significant. But looking back, I can say with certainty that this was the case.
In the early 2000s what I understood about depression was someone sitting in a sad dark room crying all day because their life was a mess. I wasn’t doing exactly this, but I did spend a significant amount of time in my room alone daydreaming about what I wish my life was like. I imagined moving out of my house and neighborhood and starting a new life as someone else, somewhere far far away. But every time someone spoke to me at home it quickly brought me back to reality and reminded me that I was indeed in this same ol’ apartment, in this same ol’ neighborhood and I had at least four more years here. Then the next morning I’d go to school and wander the halls, I’d then go to class and immediately put my head down on my desk until my teacher called on me to lift it. And on and on the pattern went, until I graduated.
These streets will make you feel brand new.
When I turned 22, I decided to finally leave home and move to New York (there was a brief period between when I was 18-20 years old where I lived in the (mid) state of Indiana, we’ll get to that someday). This was the biggest thing I’d ever done in my life, and I was doing it alone. I told my mom I was moving probably a few days before my flight and I think she was more shocked that I was freely sharing a part of my life with her than the fact that I was moving across the country in a little under a week (although in my head, I was already gone), to a place I had never even visited. The day I left, I don’t even think I said goodbye to anyone. 1My mom tried to hug me goodbye and I definitely didn’t hug her back—sorry mom!
In 2012, my name changed, again. I was a year into my big move to New York and was working a new job. My boss for some reason just started calling me Drea (which is short for Andrea, I get it) and then slowly dropped the ‘a’ and just started calling me 2Dre and I loved it so much! I found myself with yet another amazing opportunity to discover a new version of myself—a self-sufficient version of me who moved across the country and was thriving in New York City. Remember, I was the girl who never left her bedroom and now I’m living in the craziest, most chaotic city in the world! Isn’t that wild?! When my boss started calling me Dre, everyone else fell in line and the rest is history!
Now it did take a while for my family to get on board as they called me Andrea my whole life and refused to call me Dre (it be your own family!). I think it was my brother who was the first to give in. My brother, Lawrence, (who texted me the other day wanting to know what his little $5 a month subscription to my Substack was getting him–it be your own family!) moved to New York a few years after I did. I was eager to show him the new life I created and how I was cool now (still weird though) and was basically running this city! I think he saw my eagerness and resolved to call me Dre just so I’d relax. My other two siblings got on board a few years later. I remember trying to correct my mom over and over again when she still called me Andrea, I was so annoyed by it. But as I got older and understood what my name meant to her, I happily let it go. She and my dad are the only people in my life who still call me Andrea and I’ve come to appreciate it. So from 2012 to this day (to this day!) I am Dre Thomas.
Ok, so there you have it, the history of my four names and the versions of myself that came with them. Let’s do a little recap:
Andrea: the originator, the quiet, introverted one who loves spending time alone and daydreaming.
Adrieana: the extrovert who loves to laugh loudly, and is very competitive and adventurous.
Dre: the creator, the visionary, the one who is thriving in New York City and is just getting started.
But wait, there’s more!
As if four names weren’t enough, I went ahead and added a fifth name, just for kicks. I’m going for the record—although apparently there’s a guy with 2,000 names?!
When I got married, I knew I didn’t want to let go of my name completely. It was a name that I loved and built my life, career, and reputation on. Plus it just fits, right? In all honesty, I really just didn’t want to go through the hassle of actually changing my last name. So instead of going by Dre Wilson (yuck!) I just tacked on my married name and am now Dre Thomas-Wilson, or legally, Andrea-Adrieana Elice Thomas-Wilson, yay! (you should see the confusion on people’s faces when they see my ID). I recently visited a friend at work and when I arrived in the lobby they printed a guest pass for me with the name Andrea Wilson. At first, I was like oh this is wrong, but then I realized oh that is my name, kinda.
I still go by Dre though, that’s what everyone calls me and most people know me as and I think it’ll remain that way for a while. I don’t see myself embracing any other name, although I’ve never gone by just Elice so who knows?
But I like Dre. She’s cool. She’s fun. She’s a delightful daughter, an encouraging sister, a loving friend, a fun-working employee, a low-maintenance wife (although my husband might not see it that way), and most importantly, she’s a new mom. She’s the kind of girl who not only daydreams ideas but she brings them to life. If Dre wants to take all her friends to Hawaii for her wedding, she does it. If she wants to host a free summer camp for girls, she does it. If at the tender age of 35, she decides she wants to start playing flag football without any prior experience, she does it.
I’m so proud that I’ve become the person of my daydreams. I’m glad that I’ve gotten to experience so much joy and love and fun in life and I know there’s so much more coming my way! 🦇
Here’s a little short story about my childhood that I will hopefully write more about:
I am a product of aligned front doors, shared bedrooms, outdoor voices, personal belongings taken in secret, distant noises of planes and sirens, and vibrations of bumps within the ceiling. My home groaned with laughter and music, there was always someone doing some sort of thing, very loudly. My mom on the phone, my brother learning something about nothing, and my sisters engaging in some kind of argument. And me, quietly watching and listening trying to find my place in it all. I had always the same certainty of my imagination being brought to being as a child is certain of holding the hand of his invisible friend.
—you’ll notice I use the word ‘so’ quite often. you’ll also most likely notice bad grammar and the overuse of commas and punctuation in my writing—so yea
I wanted to share that my mom and I have a great relationship now. In those early years, I really did cause her a lot of grief—not just with my attitude but also by simply not speaking to her. To her, it seemed like I didn't care or love her, but I was just going through something major and didn't know how to navigate that season of my life. Our relationship began to thrive when I left home. I'd often call her to cry, vent about my life, and check in—and I still do. Big shout-out to my mom for never giving up on me.
Pronounced: Dray. It wasn’t unique—I’d known people named Dre before, usually short for boys named Andre (like my uncle). But I loved that it was now my name. What’s funny is that when I was a kid, I always said I wanted to be a doctor just so people would call me Dr. Dre.