Ribas Ribas

My name is Mariana Ribas Ribas. Hold on, wait a minute… is that your name, double it? Yes, it is. It’s not a spelling mistake with my name, it is my brand! My first and second surnames are the same. In Spain and Mexico we don’t change surnames when we marry (and sure other countries but I only speak for what I directly know), so you always have the same surname, normally the first one from your father and the second one from your mother. So, here it comes the second question that I normally get: so are your parents related? No, they are not. We are from Ibiza and Ribas is a very frequent name. Furthermore, we spell it different from the rest of the peninsular Spain, with “B” instead of “V”. So, since I left home and lived in the main peninsula (for 11 years!), I had to say everytime, “Ribas Ribas with a B”. “And the other”, they ask? “Ribas, also with B!” So then, I moved to the UK and again I have to answer for the spelling; why I have two and why they are the same.

One of the funniest moment about the double surnames was when the Technical superintendent of the School of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, where I now work, triple checked with IT that that was my correct name and he was still afraid when we put my name on the door that it was a mistake (as my office mates also thought J)

Then it’s my signature, it is Mr2. It´s not mister 2, it’s not that I’m an Einstein´s equation (not even close), or I love math (although I do). It’s m r squared. It is just an easy way to sign. And then it turns out really convenient for my logo because I work on CO2 in the ocean so I can use the 2 for both.

I’m sure I lose you when I said where I come from. It’s always happened to me. This will come in another post…