Hello, My Name Is...

After many months of head scratching, strong voter turnout at the name polls, and some inter-continental consulation, we are pleased to announce that our baby finally has an English name.

Ladies and gentlemen, we give you... Methusaleh Roy K.

Ha. Er, no.

We present to you... William ( ) K.

There are parentheses where his middle name should be because quite frankly, we still haven't figured it out the best way to spell it. Yes, we know we are pathetic. Yes, we know we are unworthy of such a beautiful baby.

Hairshirts and cat 'o nine tails aside, here's a long-winded glimpse into our thought process:

1) It just feels right. When we look at the photos of our baby, he looks like a William. Perhaps it has something to do with the letters in the name. With the exception of the "a," all the letters have a tall-ish, upwards orientation and in an odd sort of way befit a baby with a longer face. I think this same, subtle reasoning also factored into naming William's big brother, Andrew. His roundish face matches the predominantly shorter letters in his name.

2) It's easy to pronounce. While Collier was a close contender and the runaway winner of the name poll, Collier Szu-Chuan K. (insert common Polish name with harsh syllables) is a mouthful to say. We would have sincerely loved to honor Grandpa by naming our child after him, but it just wasn't meant to be.

In addition, considering many of William's new adoptive relatives are not native English speakers, we also had to be sure to give him a name that was easy on the tongue. My two older sisters and I are named Even, Sherry, and Judith. However, if you ask my parents who their three older daughters are, they will tell you, "Eben, Shelly, and Judas." Catch my drift?

Names with too many syllables got the axe. Names with "Th" or "V" or certain "R" sounds also went out the window since they aren't used in Chinese and Taiwanese and are hard for ESL speakers to pronounce. So, buh-bye, "Theophilus," "Gregorio," "Cuthbert," and "Voldemort."

(On a side note, if someone ever wanted to convert William into a Chinese name - I don't know why they'd want to since he already has one - the two syllables would render much better than a one syllable or 3+ syllable name. )

2 1/16) It jives with his Chinese name. My mother insists with an air of finality that William is the name for our boy because we can nickname him Bill (this nickname I adamantly refuse to use since Bill is the name of a 55 year-old man and is thus unsuitable for a little boy). Since his Chinese name bears the characters for gold, jade, and king, she claims that the name "Bill" - as in dollar bill - would dovetail quite nicely.

As for me, I'm thinking if the birthmother did give him his Chinese name, perhaps prosperity for her child is something that she wished upon him. I know, worldly wealth is not the be-all, end-all in life, but if that was her intent, it is certainly something special and worth honoring.

3) It welcomes him. William is Craig's middle name. Even if our son bears none of our genetic traits, sharing a common name with his adoptive father will hopefully help him feel like the equal and valued member of our family that he is.

So there you have it. The number of Williams worldwide has just increased by one, and the world is all the richer for this most precious of additions.