【Get to know Taiwan】Interesting naming principle

One day, an international adoptive mother asked me whether I can explain to her how her Taiwanese daughter’s name was given and what its meaning was. I understand that names represent expectations and blessings from the people who give name. I then did a little research and found a study done by Liu Hsin-yi, Chen Qi Zhang Huiwen and Lunzhu's called "Look at Eastern and Western culture from names." In this research article, the list naming principle in Taiwan is given as the following.

1.    Fortune teller – name is given in accordance with a newborn child’s date of birth, including time. (My personal experience is that it is to give a child the most blessings.)

2.    Check dictionary – to get a most meaningful word/ character. (I wanted to do so much but NO.)

3.    The elder’s expectation – wish offspring to enter the most popular high school (e.g., Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School, initial in Chinese called Jian Zhong) so this son is given Jian Zhong as his name.

4.    Reflect the times - such as during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, in Taiwan, most names are embedded with the character of “Zhong”, “Hua”, “Min”, “Guo” (those four words together represent Republic of China in Chinese).

5.    Worship – worship a star so naming the child after that star, such as "Qing Xia," or give a child the character in his/ her name (usually a name has two characters) of a star, such as “Dan” after Michael Jordan.

6.    Special reason – to memorize a famous person in the past or a birth place, such as “Tai”.

7.    Street name – it is believed that if a child given a street name will have smoother life to prevent jealousy from “God” (this is another long story about Chinese culture).

Of course, it also can represent the heritage of blood. The “Han” race commonly practiced "ranking system of seniority in the family" according to the family tree. In addition, the study also shows it was not allowed to carry a name character of the emperor or royal members. However, after the evolution of history, it reflects respect and becomes common practice not to have the same character(s) of an ancestor or the elders in the family.

【Remark】In Taiwan, when the birth family decides to place the child for adoption at the birth of a child, the birth family usually due to quilt does not feel that they have to right to name the child. At that point, social worker will encourage the family to name the child because it represents their expectations or blessings for the child. It is also an evidence that the child is loved by the birth family. Therefore, do not underestimate the power of name.