If you didn't get a chance, here's the first part - Names from My Travels.
TLDR: I'm traveling Asia and collecting name stories!
Since my last update, my boyfriend Ethan and I have visited more of southern China (Chongqing and Chengdu), spent six weeks in Taiwan (Taipei, Hualien, Taitung, Kaohsiung, Taichung, Sun Moon Lake), scootered through Vietnam (Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Hue, Ho Chi Minh City), and are currently hanging out in Thailand (Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Chiang Mai). I've met some wonderful new friends along the way, and have asked a lot of people nosy questions about their names :)
Ethan and me scootering outside of Hanoi
I've tried to remove anything too personal - FB friends, let me know if I need to edit anything!
Joe-Thibault
Not someone I actually met, but a few Belgian friends told me about the weirdest name they knew; apparently his parents couldn't pick between the two, so they created a compound name. I gotta say, Joe-Thibault is an unusual mix of styles!
Sibset: Camille (f), Justine (f), Auguste (m)
The lovely Camille was named for an associate of Auguste Rodin, one of her parents' favorite artists (hence her brother's name, Auguste). We had a great conversation about names later on (just saying, there's a lot of people out there who keep lists of their favorite names!)
Nadège (f)
The French form of a Slavic name meaning "hope" (from the same family as Nadia). I'm reminded of another French name, Edwige, and I can think of two currently popular names that end in -ge: Paige and Sage.
Lannan (Eve)
A friendly Chinese woman told me her name means "very smart" in Mandarin (I couldn't find the right combination of name elements online). She picked her own English name, Eve.
Sibset: Itai (m), Dror (m), Naama (f), Sivan (f), Shaked (f), Keshet (f)
When Sivan told me she was one of six children, I asked their names so fast I nearly choked. Her family is Israeli, and they chose each of their children's names based on the Torah reading for the week they were born. Itai is a name of one of King David's warriors, meaning "being." Dror means "freedom," chosen because he was born during Pesach (the Jewish holiday of Passover, celebrating the liberation of the Jews under the leadership of Moses). Naama is a fairly popular name in Israel, meaning "pleasant." Sivan was named for the third month of the Jewish calendar, which comes from a word meaning "season" or "time." Shaked means "almond," as she was born during Tu BiShvat, a Jewish holiday celebrating ecological awareness and the planting of trees. Keshet means "rainbow," referencing the story of Noah.
Sibset: Talia (f), Alon (m), Shachar (m), Shani (f)
Another excellent Israeli family name group! Talia is a Hebrew name meaning "dew from heaven" (it's currently fairly popular in the US), Alon is a Hebrew name meaning "oak tree," Shachar is a Hebrew name meaning "dawn," and Shani is a Hebrew name meaning "red."
Special thanks to the incomparable Shachar and Sivan for answering my questions one after another! <3
Nathan
The third Israeli interviewed on this list, Nathan was named for his grandfather. We talked a bit about "word names" being on the rise in the United States, when they're very popular in other countries already (see Sivan and Shachar's stories above!)
Sibset: Elena Georgina and Isabel Antonia
These gorgeous names reflect Elena's family's roots in Italy and in Puerto Rico. We also both noticed that the middles were feminizations of traditionally male names.
Sigrid
The fabulous Sigrid was supposed to be named Julia, but her parents felt the choice didn't fit her. They chose her name in part because it sounds like "sie grinst," German for "she smiles."
Sibset: Jack, Grace, Samuel
Jack would have been Kate if he was a girl, but didn't know why his parents chose Jack.
Couple: Una and Aga
This warm Taiwanese couple owned and managed a hostel in Hualien. Una is one of my favorite names, and I love how their names sound together.
Sibset: Erica, Sara, Isaac, John
Erica told me that her parents chose "simple names" for her and her siblings because theirs were more complicated. I hear more about the reverse of that happening: choosing a "unique" name for one's child because one's own name is too popular.
Arslan (m)
This is a form of Aslan (meaning "lion"), and comes from Arslan's home state of Bashkortostan, a republic in Russia.
Huong (f)
This is a Vietnamese name meaning "perfume" - similar to Jasmine or Rose, perhaps?
While attending Quest Festival outside of Hanoi, I collected a lot of names, but few stories behind them: Aymen, Atlas, Edith, Lou and Loup, Jael, Mansour, Naadir, Muti, Trey, Pim, and a ton of Alex's!
Couple: Willi (f) and Willem (m)
This funny couple from Amsterdam had been together for decades, with the matching names Willi and Willem. Willem joked "If I had known her name, I would have walked away!"
Aladdin (m)
I met a real-life Aladdin, from Lyons, France!
Kurn (m)
When he told me he was Welsh, I asked his name, expecting an unusual Welsh choice. Instead, his parents chose a Hebrew name - Kurn, from Koren, meaning "shining" - to honor their Jewish heritage.
So many names and stories! Thanks everyone for sharing theirs with me :)
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