Vigo Baby's Rhapsodies

The Art of Naming

Last summer when a cousin came to my mother’s house to deliver a “U.S. citizen” baby, I happened to be in town and was quickly recruited to the Committee for Chinese Names for Babies.

My official naming career actually started on the very first day of my perpetual studentism, when I was learning (with tears) how to write my last name. I have a comparatively complex last name that is almost a punishment for a child who just learns to pick up a pen. Having finally managed to occupy (only) 9 "squares" for that one character [1], I came home and announced to my parents that I had decided to change my name to Ding-Yi (丁一). The parents objected to the 6-year-old’s fine selection, and explained with patience all the rationales and logics of naming.

(My parents had tried to pick a name that when called in different languages, would not inspire rhymes of negative creativity. But it did not take very long for my elementary classmates to figure out that my name, when pronounced slightly off-pitch, rhymed with 6-1-1.)

Now after long years of practice (on paper), I have developed this rule of thumb:

If the baby’s family name is Lin2(林), what, besides Dai4-Yu4(黛玉), could be more proper for her? If the baby's last name is Jia3(賈), then Bao3-Yu4(寶玉). If Yen2(顏), then Ru2-Yu4(如玉) ---- Isn’t it how Lin2, Yu3-Tang2(林語堂) named his characters in Moment in Peking (京華煙雲)?

Although the Committee for Chinese Names for Babies never accomplished its mission (the father of the baby rejected every name the committee came up with), its members had a great time playing with the baby. Naming babies is one of the (few) privileges of parenthood. So parents, enjoy it while you still can!

[1] We used to write on a kind of special grid paper with rows of 2cm x 2cm squares. Each character is supposed to be confined in one square, in order to create a form of symmetry in Chinese calligraphy. For characters that are made of so many strokes as my last name, it was very difficult to properly place them in just one square.

posted by Vigo Baby at 7:40 PM