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My questions :
1. Which names would least suprise you when a Chinese face went with the name?
- Josephine

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2. Which names fit the sibs names the best?
- Thalia

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What about Keziah, Ariel, Bethany, Chloe, Esther, Eve (since she's the first girl), Jemima, Joanna, Leah, Lydia, Martha, Mary, Miriam, Phoebe, Rachel, Rebecca, Ruth, Selah, Tabitha, Talitha or Zoe? I think it would be nice to have a biblical name for this child too.

This message was edited 2/20/2007, 3:42 AM

As an Asian-American, I say kudos to you.

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I think what you're doing is great. Not only adopting but trying to be respectful of where she's from and not ignoring or hiding it. I ended up with a full name that completely omits that side of my ethnicity (I'm not adopted but my father is white so I had a white last name). I don't mind my first name (Leigh, which is usually mistaken for Li anyway) but I wish I had a middle name that tied me to that side, rather than my middle name, which had no thought put into it other than it was trendy at the time.

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Just by having her middle name reflect her culture will likely be enough. It gives her choice and for that, thank you.

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I like Sonia the best (my first association is actually with Korean-born Sonya Thomas, even though I speak Russian) but Thalia might fit the sib-names better.

This message was edited 2/20/2007, 2:35 AM

Sonia

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sdsd

LOVE Thalia

I vote for Thalia

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Sonia sounds nice, but English-speakers took up the name from the Russians, where... it's a nickname only (for Sofiya). I just can't get the nicknamey-ness of Sonia / Sonya out of my head, sorry.

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Thalia Fujing Dube sounds absolutely gorgeous to me, at least in the pr. THAL-ee-a. But, come to think about it, TAL-ee-a and THAY-lee-a also sounds really nice in the combo.

HOW ABOUT:
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Esther
Hannah
Grace
Joy
Hope
Faith
Charity
Judith
Elizabeth
Zion
Abigail
Shiloh
Ruth

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All beautiful biblical girl names

Josephine is my favorite, but I also love Naomi. Although it is a Japanese name, I think if you are using it in the Biblical sense then it would be okay. And about this whole debate of ethnicity being assigned to names, I feel that sometimes certain ethnicities are deeply associated with names. And whether that be right or wrong, you are looking out for your child when asking that question. You realize that there are insensitive people out there who hear the name Emma or Emily or Ashley and will say something ridiculous like "I didn''t know you were Asian" when your daughter walks into the room. Every name came from somewhere and when any name was starting to spread it probably got strange reactions from people. Trust me, I just sat with my mother and read her my favorite names the other night and every one was met with "Too Italian" "Too Irish" "Too African-American" "Too something" and yes it was very frustrating. So, I do not think you are closed minded at all, just wanting to protect your daughter from the closed mindedness that still exists in the world. And the main people who matter in the decision are your family and community. But thank you for sharing it here with us. I hope our opinions help you out!:)

I quite like all of the names. I think I like Sonia or Josephine best, but any would be fantastic. If you don't feel sure about Naomi, I'd strike it of the list, you have other options.

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I don't mean to labour the point, but I agree with Array, Adelle and others that it is completely unnecessary to map names onto ethnicity. I actually found your question a little offensive. My ex was Chinese and called Vincent, he never had any problem with that or wanted to go by his Chinese name (his mn). I never noticed a reaction of surprise when he told people his name. I have Asian friends who have adopted a Western name, for example Mike rather than Myung. I have another friend who never uses his western name (his fn on birth certificate). This is a rather long way of saying I don't think she will have too much of a problem having a western fn and I don't think anyone is going to be surprised.

I would say either Sonia or Josephine, but I don't like any of your choices. I would say Rachel, or Rebecka would be nice.

I like Sonia and Thalia the best, but I prefer Talia.

Thalia Fujing is my favourite out of these combos. It has an exotic feel to it, yet I don't associate it with any particular ethnicity or nationality.

I think the name Thalia fits the sibs names best. You are right about Naomi being improper for a chinese baby.

Having read Array's comment further down and your reply to that, I can only say that I appreciate what you're trying to do, that you want it to be right and respectful and appropriate. However, the adopted people I know in Sweden have the same types of names as everybody else, and I've never heard of them disliking it.
To name a few, I know a:
Kristin ( Korea)
Josefina ( Korea)
Agnes ( Korea)
Lina ( I think short for Karolina) ( Asian, not sure of country)
Autumn ( American-Asian, not adopted as far as I know)

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A Korean ( not adopted) girl named Jun-Hi Swedefied her name to Junni.
You could find names that mean something similair as one of her Chinese names, like:
Amala
Glenda
Phoebe
Reina

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I like Sonia a lot, but it's very Russian to me, I'm not sure how it fits in with what you said. In spite of how popular Emma is, I think it'd be a nice choice, partly because of its meaning. Irma means the same. Chloe could work, very common though.
I'll think some more about this.

I like Sonia Fujing best. That sounds the best to my ears. :D

if I ever adopt from China [or jsut an asian girl in general honestly]. I will be naming her London. Her MN will probably be her FN if she was given one, and if not I'd give her one to represent her heritage. I don't think a name *has* to go with a face. After all she'd be a Chinese girl named London! lol.

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ETA: I like Thalia Fujing best.

This message was edited 2/19/2007, 11:54 AM

Sonia!

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I really like the name Sonia. :)

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Sonia Fujing Dube. Sonia Dube. Yes, I like it.

Zachariah or Zachary!

Naomi Fujing (but Naomi is also Japanese, and giving a Chinese born baby a Japanese name seems improper to me)

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But Naomi in Japanese, IIRC, would be pronounced like NOW-mee (NOW with the OW as in cow), not nye-OH-mee or nay-OH-me, so I don't see a problem with it.

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Naomi and Thalia (if you're saying THAY-lee-ah, which is apparently the original English prn. and which Cleveland Kent Evans has totally gotten me into, lol) are my two favourites, but any of them would sound fine with Malachi and Elias.

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As for fitting best with "a Chinese face," I'll direct you towards a post Adelle made a while ago, which sums up all my frustrations with questions like that: http://www.behindthename.com/bb/arcview.php?id=761048&board=baby

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Array

Of these, my pick would either be Josephine Fujing (especially with the nn Josie) or Zora Fujing.

I like Josephine Fujing
and Thalia Fujing

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1. Sonia

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2. I like Josephine the best. It fits with Malachi and Elias and sounds good with Fujing.

I think Thalia Fujing is the best.