Last week I met this beautiful baby, my sweet Korean friend's 3400 gram breast-fed boy. She asked me to give him an English name. A task which I found both endearing and daunting.
This is not the first time I've been asked to name a baby while living in China. Shortly after we arrived in China, I helped a random mom of a Chinese classmate at EHJ's Chinese kindy pick an English name for her son. I told her to call him Matthew since her son's Chinese name was Ma Tian (and because I've always loved the name Matthew).
Three years ago I helped my Chinese teacher come up with a name for her little Ya Xin ("x" in pinyin has a "sh" sound). I came up with Shania, not because of my love for country music, but because it incorporated the same sounds as her given name, and was easy to pronounce. My teacher also liked the name because it was unique. She has given herself the English name "Maggie," but later realized that "Maggie" is an oft claimed (though I think quite tasteful) name among Chinese women her age (As well as Jennifer and Rachel for the cult following of Friends, which -- along with Desperate Housewives --made a late debut in China and created quite a misconception of modern women in the United States!)
Chinese "English" names are often common nouns, numbers or worse, borrowed from Disney.
We have met: Ice, Knife, Apple, Hunk (he wasn't), Iceberg, Eleven, Seven, Cinderella and Snow White. We have also met people who took nice enough names, but which are impossible for most Chinese to pronounce. For example, Mandarin doesn't have a /th/ sound (so much for my giving that little guy the name Matthew the first year we moved here.) For most Mandarin speakers /th/ becomes /sh/, which of course makes a muddle of names like Arthur (which sounds like Arshur... which in turn sounds like er shi, the Chinese word for '20') or Cathy whom most English speaking Chinese turn into Katty as a way to either save face, or they truly believe that's the correct way to say the name since so few have mastered the /th/of Cathy.
It's different with my Korean friend though. My Korean friend, unlike my Chinese friends, has had exposure to Western culture outside of watching pirated DVDs of American television programs. Kate could easily find a fun and trendy Western name on her own. She's cosmopolitan... having lived in Canada and several cities in China. She has successfully created an English name for herself and her husband, which are both reasonable and durable names. They gave their daughter a thoughtful name that can be used in three languages (English, Chinese and Korean) with ease.
And now she asks me ... a mother of three girls ... to name her baby boy (a boy she herself was not able to give a Korean name, since that honor was claimed by paternal grandfather).
My friend is fashionable, stylish and comfortable in English. She speaks with a West coast twinge to her voice, and not a noticeable Korean accent. She wants a fun and trendy name for her boy, not William or Billy or Harry or James... some of the more popular English names Korean boys take.
And so in the end, I drafted her this email. But, truly in the end, it is really her choice.
Hi Kate,I've been thinking about a fun English name for Min Seo.I have always loved the name Matthew, which means the same things as Min Seo (most often the meaning for Matthew is 'Gift from God'). However, I think Matthew is a little common now, and sometimes the "th" sound is tricky for kids and non-native English speakers.I found Matteo which is a Italian version of Matthew and kind of trendy. I also like the way it looks similar to Min Seo (starting and ending with the same letters.)You could reduce either Matthew or Matteo to Matt as he gets older. Matt is kind of a cool name for a older kid :-)As far as current popularity, of the top 1000 boys names in the US right now, Matteo ranks #454. It has gained in popularity since the 1990s, but you probably won't bump into a lot of other little guys named Matteo (as a "Jennifer" this appeals to me, since so many other people my age share my name.)If you don't love the name Matteo, it's okay... he's your little bundle. I won't feel bad if you don't use it!Love,Jen
