Names are important. For example, most people choose their children's names very carefully, seeking names that perpetuate a legacy and/or fit the child's personality. Children often grow up to shorten or even change their legal names to something that feels more like "them." So, it's important to consider how names impact a person's self-identity, as well as how others construct their perception of a person's identity based on a name.
In Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," Dee is a nickname for Dicie, a family name whose use can be traced back to the Civil War. However, Dee doesn't associate her name with family and belonging; she associates it with oppression and the loss of heritage. As an adult, after she's acquired an education, she renames herself Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo. Wangero is especially interesting because though she says that she values heritage and history - for example, asking for the handmade quilts - she distances herself emotionally from her family, and she wants the quilts so that she can display them, as if they're museum pieces. You might consider the contradictions Wangero embodies, as she is guilty of the very thing she accuses her mother and sister of: "You just don't understand...your heritage."
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