Sunday, October 31, 2010

What is in a name?

One of the most stressful parts of preparing to become a parent (at least to me) is -
choosing a name.  A name that my child will carry for the rest of his life.
A name that will not define him, but that he will define.

And when it comes to adoption - there's a whole 'nother thought.
Do we keep our child's given name?
Or give him/them English names?

Will they want their Ethiopian names? or will they want English names?

As adopted children, especially when adopting a child from another race, I have heard the question come up -
"Do we use a name that is common?  James, Matthew, John?"
Being in a bi-racial family, they will already stand out from the norm - do we bring more attention to them by giving them an uncommon name, or keeping their given name?

In our family Jailyn loves to hear stories about a little girl named Yun Yan. (Her chinese name)
Jorja on the other hand, will argue with you all day long that her name is not Chun Yu.
When Jailyn calls her Chun Yu she gets violently upset.

What is a mom to do?

1 comment:

Naomi said...

Jodi, you always get me thinking about things! You have presented both sides of the debate and there are pros and potentially cons to both. My off the cuff thought is to have American names 'in your pocket', until you can find out how the boys may feel. That way you can have some ready, if you feel it is the way to go.

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin