What's in a Name?

As Romeo so poetically reminds us, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." I don't know, Romeo. I might disagree with you. Our name follows us our whole life and beyond. What you are named really does matter! "The sense of personal identity and uniqueness that a name gives us is at the heart of why names interest us and why they are important to us as individuals and to our society as a whole." (H. Edward Deluzian.)

In most adoption literature, it is recommended that children who are a little older when they're adopted should be allowed to keep their names. Since literally every single thing they're familiar with and accustomed to is being taken away from them, letting them hold onto their name can be an important piece to keeping part of their personal identity and helping them to feel secure. For most kids coming from China, though, this simply isn't feasible. It's difficult enough to be a new kid in a new world, but it's even harder when you have a name nobody can pronounce or that seems so very foreign to the new tongue. It could single the child out even more than they already are. I had no thought in mind to keep "Todd's" Chinese name, which is Yun Tang (pronounced You In Tong). (As a side-note, "Todd" is not his name. He's never even heard that name. Children are given English advocacy names so that we can pronounce the names! Todd is just a name given to him to advocate and has no real connection to him.)  As we were batting around different names to see how they felt (my favorite name was Taye ;), my husband was insistent that we keep his Chinese name. I was insistent that we not. We had a friend suggest naming him Ewan (like Ewan McGregor), and Quin was sold! I...well, no. I had to think about it for a while and let it settle. It's not exactly my favorite name, but I understand the importance and significance to letting a 7 1/2 year old child keep the only name he's ever known. With that in mind, it was agreed upon that we would name him Ewan Tang! He gets to keep his name! I know it's spelled differently, but it's not like he ever knew the English way to spell it anyway! He likely would know his name in Chinese characters.

I'm excited! Now that we know what we're naming him, it's making it seem more real! We're all getting used to calling him Ewan, and it's starting to fit and feel more right to me. And I laugh, because his room is already Star Wars themed from his big brother, and remember cute Ewan McGregor as Obi Wan Kenobi!?

 

I mean, I guess it was meant to be. Haha!