What's In a Name

How did we get to the name Fiona? Here's a list of our final contenders so you can see where our heads were at.

Lucy (one of Rob's favorites)
Lucinda (the only way I would agree to Lucy)
Lois (my grandma's name)
Louise (one of my all time favorites)
Ivy (another Angie favorite)
Willow (Rob's)
Junie (after the one and only Junie B. Jones, of course)
Finn (a mutual favorite)
Fiona (the only way I would agree to Finn)
Li (Rob's)
Quinn (another mutual favorite)
Lilo (after the Disney movie, of course)

I have this thing where I want any nickname-y sounding name to be, just that, a nickname. If we are to call her by that, I want her to also have a formal version of her name for use in professional matters. I am my own example. I go by Angie, but I do not consider that a very professional sounding name. Angela is my formal name that goes on all forms and official mumbo jumbo. It's also a way of weeding out telemarketers and such. I like that. Rob tried arguing me on this, but he has to admit that he goes by a nickname too. Let's move on.

Eventually, this list dwindled to Fiona (Finn being her nickname) and Quinn. There was some back and forth for a couple of weeks until we finally settled on Finn. She just looks like a Finn (it's not too often you get to name a child that already has a personality in her photos).

One of the reasons we liked the names ending in -IN is because the name the orphanage gave her is Qin (pronounced like chin), although they seem to call her "Chi-chi" in the one video we have. Her whole name is Dang Zi Qin. Dang is the surname given to all kids in her orphanage. Zi means "purple" according to the info from the orphanage, but I have found a gazillion different uses for it online. Qin means "musical instrument" according to the info pack, but it could also mean "China" and is a popular surname there.

There is a lot of debate between Rob and me about whether or not we should keep any of her Chinese name. I will admit that I am against it. Her name was given to her by the orphanage, not her parents. It is her orphan name, and I want her to have her American family name. I figure we can just make sure she always knows that name existed and was a part of her. Rob, I think, is just not sure if it's going to matter to her or not one day.

Fiona's middle name was chosen long before her first name. I wanted her middle name to be a family name, like Elliot's, but I wanted it to represent a different kind of family. See, I was a nanny for a family for eight years. I started almost two months before the youngest was born. As soon as she was brought home from the hospital, I had the privilege of watching over her until she was in the second grade. She is a very important part of my life and stands as a wonderful example of family that I got to create for myself in this life. She and her brother are also Elliot's godparents. So, in honor of her, Fiona's middle name will be Evelyn, after the most wonderful 8-year-old I know.