Choosing a Name

“Isosceles. You know, I love the name Isosceles. If I had a kid, I would name him Isosceles. Isosceles Kramer.”– Kramer, in “The Handicap Spot”

Isosceles, Seven, Soda and Staccato are just a few baby names suggested by  some of my favourite TV characters.  The sad thing is, there are one or two in that list that I actually like!

“Kramer”

Now that our Judgement and Certificate of Non-Appeal are in and we are legally Little One’s parents — the orphanage will start calling her by the name we have chosen — that is, if we have decided to change it.

It feels strange making the switch to calling her by “our” name now, when we have been calling her by her “given name” for so many months. Our concern is for her wellbeing and how already she is going to have so many changes to adjust to such as: snow, cold, mizungo (white) parents, a new family, new food, etc. But both our social worker and our US agency have reassured us that at 20 months she is still young enough for us to change it: People do it all the time.

It turns out there is much controversy over this, so I did a bunch of research. This article in the Adoptive Families magazine  What’s In a Name?  was extremely helpful, especially the reader’s comments at the bottom.

Jamie and I finally settled on the “something old, something new” approach; to change her first name but keep her middle name.

Although I don’t yet feel comfortable broadcasting her name on the interweb I will tell you that the name we have chosen for her has several meanings in different languages…

“Victorious Woman,”  “Strong in Destiny,”  “Perfect”   &   “Life”

Hope you can all meet her soon…

~Liz

"Seven." 

"Seven Costanza... You're serious?" 

"Yeah. It's a beautiful name for a boy or a girl. Especially a girl... Or a boy." 

"I don't think so." 

"What, you don't like the name?"

"It's not a name. It's a number." 

"I know. It's Mickey Mantle's number. So not only is it an all-around beautiful name, it is also a living tribute."

"...Yeah, I guess I could see it. Seven. Seven periods of school, seven beatings a day. Roughly seven stitches a beating, and eventually seven years to life. Yeah, you're doing that child quite a service."

"I defy you to come up with a better name than Seven." 

"Alright, let's see... How about Mug? Mug Costanza. That's original. Or Ketchup. Pretty name for a girl." 

"Alright... You having a good time now?" 

"I've got fifty right here in the cupboard... How about Bisquick? Pimento? Gherkin? Sauce? Maxwell House?" 

"Alright already!!" 

- George and Jerry, in "The Seven"