Like a Telenovela

  Mi name is Maria Alejandra. In my country, Venezuela, it's a very common
name, because most venezuelans are Catholic and that was the name of
Jesus’ mother. However, in my case my mother says it’s another story
about my name’s origin. When I was inside my mother, she and my uncle
Orlando used to watch a telenovela every night at 8 o’clock called Leonela.
They really liked that telenovela, and the main character was named
Mayra Alejandra. A few weeks before she gave birth to me, they decided
to name me after the protagonist. 
At the time of my birth, my mother discussed with my uncle Orlando about what
was supposed to be my name because she didn’t like the name Mayra also my
uncle Orlando changed his mind, and he wanted to call me Mayra Fernanda after
my older brother, Angelo Fernando, so they got an agreement and it was that
my uncle Orlando had to look at many names what matched with Alejandra. 
They considered many possibilities, being Maria Alejandra the one they liked

the most.  Based on my grandmother's middle name Maria and the middle name
of the main character from the telenovela Leonela, Alejandra. Finally my mother and

my uncle decided to name me Maria Alejandra.

The Story Behind my Names

My first name Michael is originated from Hebrew and it means who is like God it is a name of an archangel of God in the Christianity beliefs. As a Catholic and Christian, I was baptized in the church and named Michael which means brave courageous and proud because it was the same attitude portrayed by the archangel of God when he slayed the devil. My name Michael has always been popular around the world. It has been a special and unique name any parent can give to their child. Also, my last name Adiemeli is of family origin and was passed down from my ancestors. It is a local name that comes from a place in my country Nigeria called Orlu in Imo state. It is of Igbo origin meaning you can do it when translates to English. My other name that is MR CK I just let people call me CK for short. I started answering the name CK when I had my first track as a musician so basically it is my stage name. It is a name I am known for by my fans and in my social medias.

Meaningful Name

             I am from China and my name was given to me by my grandfather. I asked my grandfather what he thought about my name when I was eight years old. He said that “Chun” means spring. My grandfather picked it because I was born in April. “Lin” means forest. Like the trees, he wished that I grow up healthy and sparky. The first season of the year is spring, so he hoped that I would have a good beginning in my life. I like my name because it has my family’s good hope. I was not named after anyone. In my hometown, people don’t name babies after their parents because that is not respectful for them. I never found my name is same with others until right now. I consider my grandfather had enough experience about naming babies. My name also sounds like a boy’s name in Chinese. My classmates always laughed at it when I was in school, but I never wanted to change it. I hope I can get stronger, like the big tree. I want to have enough power to protect my family. 

Smart Man

         My name is Wentao Xu. I am from China, a country with an ancient history. In Chinese tradition, my last name Xu came from my father. My first name was given to me by my mother and father. Went is a word in Chinese that means intelligent. They gave me this name because they want me to be a smart and wise man. Unfortunately, I am not very good at studying so far. I still love my name though because it represents what my parents expect of me, and it has a pleasant sound.

The characters of Wentao are 文韬. The structure os Chinese character is complex and difficult. Different characters are composed of different strokes. Even in China, there are still many people who cannot read or write my name because the character 韬 is complicated. 文韬 comes from a four-character Chinese idiom 文韬武略. it means mentality and force. my parent hoses the first part of this four-character Chinese idiom because they wish I can use my intelligence to solve problems. I am trying to live up to the meaning of my name.

Bayasgalan

Bayasgalan

            It is a Mongolian word which means happiness and joy. In 1985, I was born in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. I was the second and youngest child of my family. My father gives this name to me. One time I asked from my father “why he chose that name?” His face was happy and smiley to me, and he said, “you are my happiness that is why”. I do like my name because of the meaning and it is also not that hard to remember. Some Mongolian people have long, difficult to remember, and hard to pronounce names. My name is also a unisex name maybe because if the meaning. Some Mongolian names are not unisex because they might be the name of flowers which are for women or meaning of something strong and bold for men. I want to keep that name with clean hands. A parent gives their child a name, but everyone earns their reputation on their own.

                                                                    A Symbol


            My name is Juan. For Chinese speakers might feel that this is nothing special. However, in the 1980s, Juan became the favorite name for Chinese parents. Believe that we could find eight people out of ten who were named Juan my age. I've asked my parents why they chose this name, and they told me that this name comes from a movie. When I heard that, I guess they must be very enjoyed the movie. As time passed, when I grow up, I realized that a name just a symbol in people's lives. A symbol for people identifying who they are. However, four months ago, I had the chance to change my name on the official papers, but I refused. I kept my original name because I did not want to change the status of my daily life. For instance, if i had a new name, all my banks and identification cards would have to be renamed. On the other hand, if a name just as a symbol to me, why should I bother?



My name in Chinese characters.

                                                         

Best gift

QIHENG YAO 

ESL100CE 

Best Gift 

Everyone has a name, and maybe their name is the best gift from their family. For me, my name is the best gift from my grandfather. My name is QiHeng Yao. It is a common name in China. It is so common that when somebody walking on the street and they call QiHeng, many people will answer. Though it is a very common name, I still love my name because I have gotten it from my grandfather who was dead when I was four years old. I don’t have a lot of memories with my grandfather, but the story of my name my father told me many times. Before I have born, my grandfather had spent a month thinking about my name. At first, he chose the name “Qiang” and “Jian”, which mean strong, but my father didn’t like those because there was old fashion names, so my grandfather had to think about another name. Finally, he chose “Qi” and “Heng”, which has many means of those two characters. “Qi” means that to open or turn on in Chinese, and the “Heng” meaning forever or all the time. My father told me this is a wish from my grandfather. I think he wishes that I could open or turn on my mind all the time in my life, and I really love my name because it is the best gift from my grandfather. 

International Names

 Atefeh (Ati) Razmjoo

                                                     International Names

My name is Atefeh, which it means kindness and it is Arabic. I have

different feelings about my name. My name is my favorite because it has a good meaning and it

makes me feel good about it. Although it is difficult to pronounce in the other languages, in my

language, Farsi, it is not. On the other hand, I do not like my name because in my opinion there are a

lot of nice names that have nice meaning and have long history.

My uncle had a daughter whose name was also Atefeh. When she died, my

parents decided to give her name to me!! The interesting point is when my uncle had a girl again,

he did not choose that name, but my parents did. If I had a choice in my country, Iran, I would

change my name to an ancient Persian name or to an international name. Ancient Persian names

have long history and beautiful meanings.

There are some favorite names that I would like to have. Anahita and Hannah which are my

favorite names. The first one is very old Persian name and the name of “Water God”. In. my

point of view, is easy to pronounce and has an easy nickname, Anna. The other name is

Hannah that it is used in Iran too.

To conclude, I think parents should be careful when they intend to give a name to their

kids and should not give a name on their kids just because it is from their grandmother,

grandfather, or someone who died. In addition, in countries like Iran that do not have a

democratic government, it is pretty pretty difficult to change a name.

Perfect Mistakes

My name is kind of old school in Chinese, and it is from the mistakes of three people. It took me fifteen years to realize the mistake. Even though my name was different and wrong, now it is perfect for me.

I got my first name before I was born from my grandfather, who is my mother’s father. It was玲娟, Lingjuan. However, my mother told my grandfather, my father’s father, a wrong name while he was going to the government to get my identification card. She said that my name was Linjuan, and my grandfather thought that was 林. He went to the household registration department and wrote my name林娟. My grandfather’s handwriting was messy and hard to read. As a result, the officer read it as 桂娟, Guijuan, which is now my current name. She recorded it into computer form without confirming with my grandfather.

I did not like my current name when I was young. I lived with my mother’s parents and use the name 玲娟, lingjuan, when I was young. It was the great hope from my grandfather and I loved it. However, I love my name now because my grandfather has given new meanings to my current name. It means grateful, spring and lovely. It is the name of a flower in Chinese, which is my favorite flower, Osmanthus. One more reason I love my current name is that it is also my grandmother’s name. I love my grandmother and miss her so much since she passed away.

Although my name came from mistakes, and I used to want to change it, I do like it now. It has great meaning that my grandfather wanted, and it reminds me of my grandmother. I am so glad to have my grandmother’s namesake.

The Ocean

Yulia Gelman

The Ocean

I like my name now, but I hated it when I was at school. It was not popular at that time, and I was the only Yulia in my grade. It didn't sound very Russian, and I wanted to be Russian, because it was absolutely not cool to be Jewish. I dreamed about having straight blond hair and a simple beautiful name, such as Olga, Irina, or Nadia.

However, today I am comfortable with my name, Yulia. In the first years of my new American life I introduced myself as Julia, but then I decided I like soft sounds of Yulia better than Ju-Ju – bee buzz. Also, even if I call myself Julia, because of my accent, people immediately realize that I am a foreigner. I eventually decided to call myself Yulia, an Eastern-European variant of Julia. I inherited this name from my grandfather, my father's father, who was a soldier in World War II and died in 1941. Their regiment was surrounded by Nazis somewhere in Ukrainian steppes, no one survived. His name was Yoel, another Jewish name. My parents decided that Yulia sounded similar to it.

I know that Yulia is an ancient Greek name, and it means “wavy” in Greek. Probably, that is why I love water. I like to be by the ocean, watch the waves rolling on the beach and listen their sound. I love to lay on the water on my back in a cross shape and look at the sky. In the sky, high above me, clouds float slowly. Seagulls scream in crazy voices. Sometimes a plane will fly silently, leaving behind a long white tail. A little later, I will hear its sound.

my name

Wanling He

Stories about My Name

            My name is Wanling He and I come from the south of China. I live a harmonious family, but now I want to talk about my name. First, my last name comes from my father. This is not very special thing in China. Second, my name is common in my hometown and the whole country because many people  are called Wanling. Even though my name is simple, I want to say something special about it. Wanling is two characters. Wan translated into English means bowl, so many children make fun of me because of it. Next, my mother told me that Ling came from my cousin. In addition, my name is easy to say in Chinese, and it has some good meanings even though I do not know all of them. My parents tell me that they hope me to be a well- informed child. In conclusion, my name is not special, but it is a gift from my parents. Although some people may laugh at it, it is the blessing of my parents.

Source of My Name

                                                            Source of My Name

          My name is Yafen Chen, and I come from China. I was born into an ordinary family in a small city in Guangdong province. I do not know my name means in English, but in Chinese it means elegant, clever and sensible. My first name 雅 is used by many Chinese people in my country. Chinese people usually have two word or three words names. My parents hoped I can be beautiful and clever, so they gave this name to me. In addition, my younger sister also has a similar name. My name and my sister’s name are different between one middle word. Her full name is Yaqing Chen. When I was in primary school, I did not like my name because my name is hard to write in Chinese. My full name is 陈雅芬 in hàn zì. I slowly got used to it at last. I like my name because my parents thought about it for a long time, so it is very special for me. In conclusion, my name is a meaningful name in my life, and it can’t be replaced. 

Lucky Name

Xiaojun Huang

Lucky Name 

In China, most parents strongly believe names can affect their fate directly. They will try different ways to pick wonderful names for their children, which can bless their whole life. Because of the large population in my hometown, I can always find one person who was the same name as me on the street. 

I like my name because it belongs to me. It is like my organ which I cannot lose. Luckily, I am the only one in my family. I did not inherit it from my family. I know it is popular to have the same name as your family, but it is different in China. Usually, people will not have the same name as the elder member of the family. They think it is disrespectful if the young call their name. 

My name has three characters. The first one is my family name-Huang. The second is Xiao. Usually, people use one character to distinguish the different rank of the family, so my second character represents the seniority in the family. For example, my sisters or my brothers have the same one as the second character. The last one is Jun. This one can mean an emperor, a man of honor and a soldier. Moreover, when my father chose this one for me, he wanted me to be strong, healthy and powerful. 

It reminds me to be better in the future when I think about my name. My name will shine me a right direction like the Sun. If I get in trouble, my name seems to tell me I have to keep it and do not give up. I will be successful in the future. I know I cannot be an emperor, but I can get a promotion in my field. That’s the attitude in my life. Everything will be better and better if I try my best.  

My Name

Popular but Common

In Chinese, my name has three characters and each one character has a different
meaning, they are not connected to one big special meaning. I have two words for my
first name which are normal, a popular name used in my birthplace. In my school life,
I had met four classmates that had the same first name as mine, the same pronunciation
or same words and the same meaning. When the teachers and students who want to
call me, they had to say it with my last name. Otherwise, there would be at least two
people answering them at the same time in the classroom. Also, I have three childhood
friends in China, and they have the exact same first name as mine. Coincidentally, they
are the children of my parents’ friends who became friends after we were in kindergarten. 

When I was little, I used to love my name so much because I have an uncommon
last name with a popular first name. However, as I grew up, I knew that there was
nothing special about my name, not from anyone special, and not named after anyone.
My parents just picked out this first name for me between the three first names that
they chose before I was born. I knew that one of these names was the same as one of
our relative’s first name and some Chinese do not like to name their child after any
family member or relatives. I think this is a Chinese custom that the Chinese only
able to repeat one same Chinese character in the same generation but not repeat the
full first name. However, mostly this phenomenon occurs in the old-time in China
and only a few follow it now.

In Chinese style, Chinese people tell their last name first instead of the first
name. My last name in Chinese means blue. It is the same word as the Chinese word
color blue. It comes from my father’s last name and a very small group of people
in China with this last name. My first name has two characters in Chinese. However,
they have to be called together. The first character means plus or awarded. The second
character means sensitive or allergy. I believe that my first name represents me
because I am a person who easily gets nose, skin, and stomach allergies. I have gotten
nose allergies since I was a five, and I got skin and stomach allergies when I was in
middle school. Now, these allergies can happen at any time in my daily life, just like
my first name more sensitive and allergy by the time I grew up. Because of this, some
of my Chinese friends who I had met in college, they would say that no wonder how I
got my name. 

After all these years in the United States, I would like people to call me in just
one word from my first name, Jia, which is easier to pronounce and remember. Also,
just in case, if I am going to meet another new Jiamin in the future, it won’t confuse
other people who know both of us. However, most of my old friends still call me
Jiamin. Now that I am older, I did accept my popular and common first name as part
of myself. It was named by my parents and I am the only Jiamin in my family.
Therefore, I will love it as much as I love myself.