I am Geordie.

A Geordie is someone from Tyneside — Newcastle upon Tyne and the surrounding parishes, the north bank of the river. The demonym predates all the others. Strong accent, strong opinions about Newcastle Brown Ale, strong attachment to a very specific strip of northeastern England.

Gene Roddenberry named the Enterprise's chief engineer after a real fan — George "Geordie" La Forge Jr., who had muscular dystrophy and died in 1975. The character moves through registers without ceremony: Geordi among friends, La Forge on the bridge, Commander La Forge up the chain.

Gordon Sumner grew up in Wallsend, on the north bank of the Tyne — which made him geographically a Geordie. His bandmates called him Sting because of a yellow-and-black striped sweater. He kept the invented name and walked away from the inherited one. The Geordie didn't make the credits.

My legal name is George. My father was George. My grandfather was George. My mother ran out of patience for the disambiguation project and started calling me Geordie. I'm in my sixties, living in Spain, publishing essays under the name she used in the kitchen. Sting moved away from his inherited Geordie. I've leaned into mine.