What's in a Name?

In Home is a Roof Overa Pig (which is a wonderful book—review to follow—I promise!), Aminta Arrington talks about the significance behind her children’s Chinese names--beautiful names, each invoking an image of a season (spring, winter, and fall).

This started me thinking about my own children’s Chinese names. 

I chose my daughter’s Chinese name months before she was born, lu (露) which means “dewdrop,” and xi (稀) which means “hope.”

I chose “dewdrop” because her father’s name, bo (波)--meaning “wave,” has the radical for water in it.  I wanted my daughter to have water in her name as well.  Even though “dewdrop” does not have this radical, it has the radical for “rain” (雨).

Soon after her birth, my daughter grew into the meaning of the second character of her name, “hope.” She was born with a rare congenital heart defect, and in the first ten months underwent five catheter procedures to correct it. Watching her survive, heal, and then thrive after undergoing such hardship filled me, and those around her, with amazing hope.

Then, there's my son. While we quickly picked out his English name (a family name), it took us three years to settle on a Chinese name for this boy. Prior to his birth, I drafted a potential Chinese name, but my husband, and then my in-laws, quickly shot it down. “That’s not a real Chinese name,” they said.  

Sigh...

My father-in-law then decided that he would ask his mother to choose a suitable name. More than two years later, I was told that his name was, jia (佳) li (励), which essentially means “good encouragement.”

This name sounded fine, and was family approved, but I felt slightly disappointed that my son did not have water in his name like his father and sister.  I suggested to my husband that we change the first character of his name to chao (潮), which means tide, and keep the second character li (励).  Although my husband thought it sounded unconventional, he approved of the overall meaning, “tide of encouragement.”

As I look back on the last four years of my son’s life, I see how he has grown into his name: as a one-year-old, encouraging my mother with his huge, open-mouth smiles when she was recovering from breast cancer surgery; as a two-year-old, comforting my family with his big grins and high-fives as we gathered to mourn the passing of a beloved uncle in a hospital waiting room. He has been such a “tide of encouragement” in our lives!

Now, as we await the arrival of our third child (Yes! A third is on its way!), I consider names again. Of course, my husband and I will pick a special English name, something that is linked to my family’s history. But I am giving more thought this time to the child’s Chinese name, wondering and dreaming how, in time, they will grow into this precious name chosen for them.

How did you choose your child’s Chinese name? What meaning does it hold for you?