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For Waiting Families
Every China-born kid has his/her Chinese name. One of your most important decisions is what part of the Chinese name you will keep for your child after the adoption. There are so many choices!
1. Last name and first name
Many orphanages give their children the same last name. In some places children at same age, or received in the same year, or from same area are given the same last name. If you keep the last name, it is very possible that your child will have less identification from others in name. I highly recommend that you choose to keep the first name. There may be one character or two characters in Chinese first name. It's easy for you to make the decision if your want to keep all of them unless the sound makes you feel uncomfortable. We'll talk about that later.
2. A two-character first name
If there are two characters in the first name and you want to keep only one of them, you'd better ask the orphanage or foster care if a group of children share one of the characters. You may want to choose the one only for your child.
Most characters in Chinese name have its meanings, but some are describing or supporting the main character. For example: "xiao" means little or young. It is usually not a main character in name. If you choose only one character you want to avoid the subordinating one.
3. Uncomfortable sounds
In this case you can always add subordinating characters like "xiao" (little or young), "ai" (love) in front the character or put "mei" (young sister) after. To join them together and see if it sounds better. Because China is very big and there are a lot of different accents, please check with Chinese who speaks good Mandarin.
4. Your Choice of Name
Whatever Chinese name you choose, please try to say it loudly together with your last name for many times to make sure it sounds good! Your child will be hearing that name and you will be saying that name for life. Make sure it's the one you can both live with.
I am always here ready for help. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. Yes, it's free!
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