the struggle to find a name for our newborn is real... some are pretty like "sienna" but perhaps too bohemian and its significance even more so "brown, burnt red" (like something out of a crayola dictionary or as my mom thinks from a toyota car line-up).
and then there are the offbeat names that seem too bizarre. and the "in the moment" names like the dozens of chloes, zoes, taylors born this year. koreans seem to follow a more anglo-saxon/white trend.. their babies names evoke images of blue-eyed blonde hair... but their babies are anything but that... with a mat of black fur and beautiful asian eyes, perfectly un-Caucasian....unique and beautiful in its own remarkable way. westernization is nothing new. especially in a culture that pushes for assimilation... however, our kid will have a korean middle name... she needs to be reminded of her cultural roots... even if k food doesn't suit her fancy down the line... and she prefers hamburgers to sul lung tang or tuna tartare to homemade jiggae.
a name signifies so much throughout each life stage. a name too out of the ordinary can be the subject of taunting in earlier years... where survival is more about fitting in than standing out. the same name will probably make our kid extremely cool and hip in college (the irony of how sticking out can actually be a good thing when you're older in a crowd when people try to make their mark and feel different from the masses). a name too common will make your kid one in ten in a classroom...
we all just want our kids to fit in... and feel okay among peers... acceptance is a core common need... but really how do you come up with a good name that dozens others haven't chosen already, doesn't overlap with a friend or peers ("ella" versus "ellie") or god forbid a family member's ("allison" versus "ellison"), fits your last name with finesse, and still possesses the originality and flair that in later years your come kid will come to appreciate?
