Krogdahl. It is my married name and one I haven’t had for very long. Everywhere I go I have to spell it- TWICE, but I love it anyway because it connects me to my husband and my new family.

I giggle during meetings and introductions when I am almost always just introduced as- “Esther” because no one wants to tackle the second half. It’s actually quite easy to pronounce- you should just say it like it’s spelt- Krog (no help needed here surely) – Dahl (like the tasty Indian lentil paste). It is of Danish origin I believe and I’ve heard it means ‘deep valley’. In Denmark I’m sure there is some deep throat gargling that goes into the pronunciation but that’s not required here. The Australian pronunciation varies, but most often comes out sounding like Krog-Dale- as in “Dale dug another hole”

I have chosen to use this name on my book (and future books) because it is who I am. I hope in a weird way it is catchy- because it’s not 🙂

If anyone out there has some more interesting history on the name- I’d love to hear it.