Names

Siew and I have remained old-fashioned about the sex of the baby. Since ultra-sound scans can be dangerous to a baby's ears, I requested that only the scans necessary to check on the baby be done. Nothing extra, including looking for the sex of the baby.

People have, for thousands and thousands of years, not known the sex of the baby. It is only a few months wait to find out. I think that it is better to not know and have a healthier child than to know to settle my own curiosity.

Siew and I have decided that we will name the child this way:

I pick the first name, she picks the middle name and the baby will have my surname.

The first name will be a western name and the middle name will be a Chinese name.

I looked around for awhile, and asked my parents for names of family members and suggestions that they like.

Debra and my father sent me a wonderful list of family member names. My mother and Marty sent me a list of bullshit names.

Debra wrote this e-mail that also includes some information she found online. She took it seriously, keep this in mind:


How fun....here you go I gathered a few generation of names off of my genealogy...if you need more I can give you sibling names...Have fun you two!!!! xoxoxo mom

Girl Family Names...
Popular girl names currently in the US: Ashlyn, Allison, Anamarie, Alondra, Amanda, Bella, Cassie, Haylee, Isabelle, Jessica, Kara, Laura, Michelle, Melissa, Mary, Sarah, Tessa, Vanessa, Cami
Debra Lee Travers, your stepmom
Crystal Maxine Travers, your grandma
Etta Elizabeth Travers, your great grandmother
Allie Christmas Kells, your great grandmother
Allie Jane Scott, your great grandmother
Millicent Mellissa Fuller, your great grandmother
Henrietta Jane Weathers, your great great grandmother
Amanda Ann Black, your great great grandmother
Della Ruth Brubaker, your great great grandmother
Elizabeth "Libby" Dean Crowl, your great great great grandmother

Boy Family Names...
Popular boy names currently in the US: Aaron, Brett, Brad, Caine, Colten, Darrin, Jackson, Kevin, Michael, Austin, Parker, Preston, Wesley, Zachary
Glen Eldon Travers, your dad
Harvey Harold Travers, your grandfather
William Wilber Travers, your great grandfather
Don R. Carroll, your great grandfather
James Gillman Carroll, your great grandfather
Samuel William Carroll, your great great grandfather
Robert Fulton Kells, your great grandfather
Joseph Scott Jr., your great great grandfather
John William Brubaker, your great great grandfather
Robert Crowl, your great great grandfather


My mother sent this e-mail, she did not show a serious attitude, in fact she didn't do as I requested at all and showed a VERY immature and insulting attitude:


Boys:
Worth
Caleb
Bam Bam (Marty's idea-lol)
David (Marty's)
Alistair
Avery
Burke
Dalton
Colorado (Marty's)
Derrick (Marty's)
Sage
Gabe
Sage
Whitney
Hunter
Jace-means healer
Jesse
Mikhail
Nelson
Marty fell asleep.....lol he just got back from lunch with Mema!

Girls:
Paige
Aubrey
Unice or Eunice
Tayla
Sadie
Saffron
Phoebe
April
May
June

Maggie Ann Fager
Josephine
Delbert Ray Klassy

There are some. I'm sure you will find the right name.

Love,

Mom


The nature of these e-mails shows, to me, how each person took this. Debra took this as something fun, interesting and serious. My mother took it as a joke and made it into an insult to me.

I was very angry when I read mom's list. I was very happy when I read Debra's list.

In the end I decided on 2 names, that Siew approves of. If the baby is a girl, her name will be Delfina. If the baby is a boy, his name will be Felix.

There are several reasons for these names. The first is that they are neutral names. They are not biblical names, they are Latin. Living in a country like Malaysia, this may be helpful to our child. As I am not Christian, there is no reason to specifically give a Christian name. The next reason is that these names sound nice, and are not too difficult for people in the West and East to say. I also like the meanings of these names, in Latin. Delfina means dolphin, which is a beautiful and intelligent creature. Felix means luck or lucky, I need not elaborate on that one.

Siew has picked out some Chinese names that she likes:


For Boy:

1. yu-peng 宇鹏 *yu - universe/world *peng - Roc/Large fabulous bird
2. yuan-tao 元涛 *yuan - primary/basic/first *tao - great waves/billow
3. song-ze 颂泽 *song - glorify/praise/celebrate *ze - benefit/lake/water/blessing
4. li-peng 礼鹏 *li - Ceremony/Gift/Ritual/Courtesy/Propriety/Rite/Proprieties/Manners *peng - Roc/Large fabulous bird
5. song-peng 颂鹏 *song - glorify/praise/celebrate *peng - Roc/Large fabulous bird


For Girl:

1. ying-shuang 樱双 *ying - cherry/sakura *shuang - double/pair/couple
2. qiao-shuang 乔双 *qiao - tall/to disguise *shuang - double/pair/couple
3. meng-shuang 梦双 *meng - dream *shuang - double/pair/couple
4. you-meng 优梦 *you - excellent/outstanding/brilliant/untouchable *meng - dream
5. yue-meng 悦梦 *yue - happy/pleased/delighted *meng - dream
6. yi-meng 艺梦 *yi - art/skill *meng - dream


I have not heard how these sound to give a ye or nay to these names yet though. :-)

Siew's mother suggested a name that I really had to veto. She suggested Jian Bang for a boy's name. She knows I like swords and suggested Jian because that is the Chinese word for sword. However, naming the boy something like that just doesn't "feel" right to me, so I said no to that part. Bang is horrible. It may be ok in Chinese, but we have to consider that our child is the product of many cultures. Bang, in English, is a sound to show an explosion or a loud noise. This is not something that I would want our child to have to carry around.

Our baby is due May 26th. I am excited, nervous, anxious and a whole host of other things about that.

Siew and I are about to really begin the journey of becoming a family.