As we sit here and wait, there are a lot of things Mike and I wonder about the little person that's going to come join our family one day. Is it going to be a boy? Is he / she even born yet? What's the deal with the biological family? What does his voice sound like? What games does he like best? Does he collect butterflies?... but the one that gets us the most is: What is this person's name?! What will we call you?
The current school of thought with adoption seems to be that if the child comes with a name, they keep that name. I've read articles and forums and blogs on this, and as much as I want to say we're totally 100% on board with that thought, we're not. There are too many what-ifs. What if the name is terrible in English? What if it just gets silly when combined with our last name? Is it right to send him or her through life in an English society with a name that will be constantly mocked and questioned? We get that the child will be old enough to identify to that name, and we get that it could be very confusing to change it. But couterpoint #1: I changed my own name when I was four and was happier for it because the teasing at school stopped. And counterpoint #2: ESL learners take on English names when they go to ESL school or abroad to learn without any psychological trauma. I've taught kids as young as four who easily accepted that when they were with me, their name was different than when they were at their Chinese schools. No biggie. I've also read one blog that said the name was "the only gift the birthmother gives to the child." I disagree here, as there's a little thing called genetics that she'll be passing along. That's a pretty big gift.
There are a lot of things that we as adoptive parents won't get to do that biological parents take for granted, and naming could be one of them. Most I don't mind, but this one stings a bit. My family can attest, I've been in the habit of naming EVERYTHING my whole life. Seatbelts included. Naming our child would really be the icing on the cake for us.
Anyway, the other day we looked up popular Thai baby names to see what we might be getting into. Some of those names are stunners, with beautiful meanings. These we'd have no problem keeping. Others, not so much. This being said, I mean NO offence to anyone with these names. I'm sure there are languages out there where "Michelle" or "Mike" mean something equally ridiculous as what you'll see below! So folks, I present to you:
Our Top Ten Best and Worst Thai Baby Names!
10: Worst - Chompoo
meaning: pink
Reminds me of a) the word shampoo and b) "...here?"
9: Worst - Kittichat
meaning: famous clan
Okay, it's kind of cute... kitty like in English for kitty, chat like in French for kitty. Would be a wicked-good name for a cat, but a human child? Nope.
8: Best - Chaiyo
meaning: hurrah!
How happy is this name and its meaning?! Also, it's the same word they use in Taiwan to cheer someone one, like "Go go go!" Love it! Especially for a super-happy energetic kid, it'd be great! Maybe not so much for a grumpy lazybones, but we'll see.
7: Worst - Ittiporn
meaning: power
I'm sorry, what kind of porn is that? Along with Ratanaporn, no daughter of ours is going to have "porn" in her name. And her middle name will not be "Star" for that matter.
6: Worst - Kraisee
meaning: lion
You're kraisee if you think we'd call our poor kid that! Although we do like the meaning. We'd just change it to that. Or Leo. Or Simba!
5: Worst - Phichit
meaning: to win
Considering most "ph"s in Thai make a hard "p" sound, this is just bad in English. Bad #1 and #2.
4: Best - Han
meaning: audacious
Mike saw this one and cracked a huge grin. He'd love to have a kid that shares a name with a Star Wars character!
3: Worst - Dok Rak
meaning: flower of love
Oh, it looks like an innocent Thai name, but push the first k over, and you've got a favoured activity of Rob Ford.
2: Worst - Thong
meaning: gold
I like it when the beat goes da na da na / Baby make your booty go da na da na / Girl I know you wanna show da na da na / That NO!
Can you imagine yelling that one out on the playground? Or its male counterpart, Thunathong? Oh no.
1: Best - Som Kid
meaning: living up to intention
Since reading this list and seeing this name, we have had something to call our future child. Som Kid. Conversations have now been like, "I can't wait to go to Thailand and pick up Som Kid!" "Should we enrol Som Kid in piano, or violin?" "I hope we never get a phone call home for Som Kid like I had to make today!" "Can I take Som Kid to Disney World right away?" "No, I want to raise Som Kid vegan." And on and on. And it makes us happy.
All joking aside, we do have some top contenders for English re-names, mostly based on family names and names of characters in our favourite stories. We'll reveal those soon enough to see if they're un-teaseable.
So there you have it. Friends, family, and strangers alike, we welcome your input on this matter, feel free to leave comments below or on Facebook.
No comments:
Post a Comment