Naming your baby

I thought naming a baby is a simple job but turns out the hardest job ever.  You see, I want to give her the most auspicious name.  Yes, it's a girl.  

I don't want to give a name that burdens my girl.  You know, like those celebrity gives those fancy names, like ahem, North West, ahem.  I guess nobody is laughing because both parents are rich and famous.  But if your parents are not rich and famous, then you are subject to become a laughing stock.

See, I was given a name that makes my friends laugh at me and make it into a nickname.  I remembered my mom said she was too tired right after labour and gave the job of registering my name to my dad.  Both of them had decided my name, the Chinese name that is.  And guess what, my dad spelled my name wrongly on my birth cert that became a permanent joke.  He added a 'G' to the end of my name.  And because of that and my surname, my name became a joke that still exist till today, though colleagues aren't that humorous to notice.

Throughout primary and secondary school and even college life, my friends would make fun of my name.  So much so I became numbed and immune to it.  

So, when it comes to naming my girl, I want to make sure she has an auspicious name.  I have decided to give her a Sanskrit name (yeah despite being Chinese), that doesn't sound too Indian.  And the name should not have a bad meaning in other languages too, like Malay or Cantonese.  

I known an Austrian boy whose name is Mathias but his parents called him Mati.  When they came to Malaysia, then only they realised how inauspicious the name was.  But since they are Mat Salleh, no one really bothered.

Also, the name should be easy to be pronounced by Chinese people, since she will be around Chinese mostly.  And you know Chinese people can't pronounce R and L and N properly.  Like La becomes Na.  For example, Shaila becomes Shaina or Arjuna becomes Arjula.  

My dog who was adopted by an Indian earlier and named Madhyam and then adopted by me, was called from Mariam to Madam by my Chinese relatives.

And the name should be unique but at the same time not weird.  And I also want a name that others doesn't have it already, at least with people that I know.  And I do not wish to name my child after a Goddess, not that it's a bad thing or what.  I just feel like if I want to reprimand my child and discipline her, I am not scolding God, you know what I mean.  I prefer a name that symbolises a good quality instead of a God's name directly.  For eg, let say I name my kid as Buddha, and each time I want to reprimand her, I would scold her, "Buddha!!!  Look what you have done!!!"  Sounds so disrespectful right?

Nowadays, parents don't like naming their kid with common names like Mary, Jane, Joanne, etc.  Nowadays, more popular names are like Adrianna, Emelia, Adele, etc.  

Finally, I have decided to only name my kid when she is out from my womb.  According to Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara (JPN), if you register your baby's name within 14 days from birth, it's free of charge.  If you register between 15-42 days, it's RM5.  So after confinement, still got time to go and register.

Indians prefer to name their child upon birth only as they deemed it's inauspicious to name so early.  They even have a naming ceremony.  Usually happened like 40 days from birth.  

Even my husband said back in China they only name the kid upon birth.  So, alright.  Upon birth then.  Meantime, I will continue to search for one.  Who knows, I might just end up with an English name instead.