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
Claude	KLOD (French), KLAWD (English)	French, English
Jabin	JAY-bin (English)	Biblical
Rhoda	['rəudə]
Dalia (1)	-	Spanish (Latin American), American (Hispanic)
Hector	['hektə]
Antigone	[æn'tigəni:]