pay one's dues

Earn something through hard work, long experience, or suffering. For example, She'd paid her dues in small-town shows before she finally got a Broadway part. This expression transfers the cost of being a paid-up member in an organization to that of gaining experience in an endeavor. [Mid-1900s]

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Keelan	-	Irish
Kasumi	kah-soo-mee	Japanese
NÎGa	-	Kurdish
Armison	['a:misn]
Reshmi	-	Indian, Hindi, Bengali
Mneme	-	Greek Mythology