What's in a name?

This week I had the privilege of meeting my Chinese students.  I found it to be a delightful experience.  They are sweet, helpful, excited to learn, and enthusiastic to get to know me as their teacher.   I also had the enlightening experience of learning their names.  Many of them have long-since chosen English names for themselves in prior years of their English studies.  They identify strongly with these names as it is what they have called themselves in English classes for quite some time.  Some of them choose an English name that sounds similar to their Chinese name, some just choose one they like, others think about meaning and significance, and still others may not choose a name at all – rather just an English word that they like.   I admit that I had to suppress laughter several times this week after being introduced to students named: “In” (not short for anything, just “in”), “Season” (not Summer or Autumn, just “Season”), “Ant” (yes, the animal), “Ritchie”, “Bebo”, “Celery”, “Yoga”, and the list goes on.   I’d like to take a moment here to at least impose some of the blame onto American celebrities because of their absurd child name choices – I mean, seriously, Gwyneth Paltrow, you named your daughter Apple?  Gwyneth, an apple is a food, not a name.  I mean, really, if Apple can be a name, then why not any other food – Mustard? Bacon? Raisin? Ground Beef?  Because it’s ridiculous, that’s why.  And so, it’s your fault, Gwyneth, that my student had the logical train of thought to assume that “Celery” was a valid name choice.  And Kim Kardashian – naming your child “North West”?  Really?  North West is a direction, not a name.  And so, it is your fault that my student thinks that the preposition “in” is also a name.   I could go on blaming various celebrities for their tacky child name choices, but there are some names I learned this week of my Chinese students that simply can’t be blamed on anyone: “Echo”, “Chaos”, “Grug”, and my personal favorite – “Erosion.”  That’s right folks, one of my students named herself after the environmental problem through which soil and rock are worn away from the earth’s surface.

Although I think some of the name choices I heard this week are very silly, I am still convinced that I, as a foreigner, do significantly sillier things on a daily basis.  As a result of that, I’m amazed and grateful that we are able to not only extend compassion to each other, but that we can actually build relationships as well.  I guess it’s diversity that makes us interesting, and grace is that makes us friends.  :)