If you want, Google your name (in quote marks) and see what comes up. You may or may not be unique.
Until I was in my early 40s, I had always assumed my name, Lynn Arave, was unique.
That, I rationalized, was the reward for having that strangely spelled and stated last name.
However, I eventually learned that there were at least two other Lynn Arave's in the world.
In Kentucky, a woman had married into the family and was Lynn Arave too.
Also, a distant relative in Idaho Falls, and older than me, was also named Lynn Arave (actually Lynn J. Arave, vs, my Lynn R. Arave). So, the Idaho Lynn Arave is actually the "original."
There appears to be a huge Arave extended family (in the thousands), startling when you consider that the first Arave, Nelson, was ONLY my great-grandfather. So, I guess it make sense that few Araves may actually have a unique combined first and last name.
Even my mother, Norma Arave, wasn't unique in her name. There was a Norma Arave Earl (recently deceased), as well as an earlier living Norma Arave.
One of my younger brothers, Mark, has also been plagued somewhat with mail/bill confusion, by the older and same-named Mark Arave who lives in the Ogden area.
However, such name confusion doesn't just involve same-named Araves either.
For example, Leonard Arave, the current mayor of North Salt Lake City, Utah, often goes by "Len," a very close name to "Lynn" (see the accompanying illustration). Especially when Len Arave also lived in Layton, Utah, there was occasional phone call confusion going on. It was entertaining far more than annoying, though.
If you are an Arave relative, but don't carry the actual Arave surname, you may be lucky, at least in the area of having your name pronounced correctly.
It is just not often outside my own neighborhood where the name is said correctly.
The range of wrong pronouncements ranges from A-ravee to Rave.
Of course the correct way is "Arvey."
When I served an LDS Church mission in England, I eventually had my name badge redone to "Arvey" (see the accompanying picture), simply because I cared more then about how it was said than how it was spelled.
One British church member used to referred to me as "Elder Harvey, without the H."
Years later, Dave Blackwell, a well-known Utah sports writer/TV-radio broadcaster from the 1970s to the 1990s, coined my name in informal writing and notes as "RV," like recreational vehicle.
When Michael Arave was the studentbody president of Weber State University in the 1980s, I recall a rise in how often my Arave name was correctly stated in the Ogden area.
With Len Arave as North Salt Lake City mayor now, I'm betting there is a similar effect in that area.
Often times, it is more surprising when my last name is stated correctly than when it is not. For example, in January of 2012 I went into an America First Credit Union in Logan, Utah (some 60 miles from my home) and the branch manager surprisingly knew how pronounce my surname. There are a few Araves in Cache Valley, but not a lot.
-Also, in October of 2014, I went to the Rexburg Idaho LDS Temple, never dreaming my last name would be pronounced correctly. But, the sealer surprisingly knew the name and how to say it. He also said there are lots of Araves in Blackfoot.
-Then, later the same day, I visited the Idaho Falls Temple, where Parley Arave was its third president. No one seems to recognize the last name and sadly scanning the list of temple workers and volunteers revealed not a single Arave to be found.
-The "Why" Arave is spelled its unusual way is fodder for a future blog.
Anyone with the oddly spelled name (and even more strangely pronounced surname name) A-R-A-V-E is likely related somewhere.
All came from the first Arave, Nelson Arave (about 1834-1906).
Most pronounce the name "Arvey," as if the A was silent and as if it had a Y on the end.
Anyway, if you possess that name you are probably thinking "tell me something I don't know."
OK. I did a Goggle search on "ARAVE" and here's what I believe are some of the more prominent of the Arave relatives, close or far, out there:
(Note: This is a work is progress and will be added to in the future...)
-ARVON ("A.J.") Arave, former warden of the Idaho State Prison.
-CHARLES Arave, KRISTY Arave and WHITNEY Arave: all 3 commercial photographers in Northern Utah.
-CLINT Arave, rodeo champion, from Blackfoot, Idaho area.
-JERRY Arave, principal of Kingman Junior High School, Kingman, Arizona.
-The late JOSEPH Arave, Ph.D.,of the University of Utah College of Health, Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
-KIM Arave and the late DALE Arave, owners of both Western Reality and the Arave Constuction Company in Blackfoot, Idaho.
-LEON Arave, internationally known sumo wrestler.
-Leonard Arave, current mayor of North Salt Lake City, Utah.
-MICHAEL Arave, former studentbody president at Weber State University, 1980-81.
-The late PARLEY Arave of Idaho. Former president of the LDS Church's Idaho Falls Temple and also a Canadian Mission President for the LDS Church (Picture of Idaho Falls Temple above.)
-Dr. RICHARD L. Arave, dentist in Boise, Idaho.
-The late JAN "Shay" Arave, successful interior designer and manager of online health products and blogs in the Portland, Oregon area.
Others with ARAVE blood, but do not have the Arave name:
-"Jon Carter," a famous Utah radio host since 1979 (though raised in Idaho), now on KRSP. (One of his grandfathers was an Arave.) "Jon Carter" is his stage name.
-Gary "Wooly" Waldron, legendary Utah DJ (KCPX/KNAK and more), radio producer. (His mother's maiden name was Arave.)
This is a blog, an extension of a similarly named Facebook group page, that seeks to promote unity and information among the descendants of the first Arave, Nelson Arave.
There are literally thousands of people out there related to this pioneer, but likely many do no know his legacy or history.
What follows hopes to be informative posts about the extended Arave family, its unusual spelling and history, as well as just what some of the many Araves' out there are doing -- because we are all related!
(Note: You can search for the group page on Facebook by using All Things Arave as the key phrase.)
