This dear child of ours has been referred to by so many names, it's getting slightly confusing, and now we're adding to that confusion by giving him yet another name. When we first learned about him, we were told his name was Luo. And called him that until we found out that Luo was just his surname, his full name being Luo Min Jia, and Jia his "first name". Calling him Jia took some getting used to. So I figure the sooner we start calling him his new name, the easier it will be. Our kids still call him Luo, Jia, or Luo-Min-Jia interchangeably. Ryan and I knew that we wanted to give him an English name for a few reasons. First of all, for pronunciation reasons. I've heard of adoptive parents that try to call their Chinese child by their Chinese name, and the child doesn't even respond to it, because, no matter how hard they try, the parents can't pronounce the name with the right Chinese accent. It seems funny to use a name that most people will not be able to say correctly and the kid won't even recognize as their name anyway. Also, we gave each of our children a name, it's kind of like a gift from us (whether or not they like it). We'd like to be able to do the same for Jia. In many ways, he's going to feel different, there is no getting around that, he will be a Chinese boy in a very white family. We want to give him every opportunity to feel like he belongs... and so we have decided to name our new son:
Jordan Jia Ron Andersen
Jordan, because Ryan and I both like the name and feel like it fits him.
Jia, because we want to preserve his past and love the meaning: fine/good/home/family.
Ron, because it's my father's name, and I can't think of a better man to be named for.
Andersen, for obvious reasons.
I know, it's a mouthful. If you don't like it, it's okay... neither do our kids.
