I just wanted to get a bit of discussion going around our baby’s name. Our baby will be the firstborn of her generation in both families… my husband is Chinese and I’m of English descent. We plan to give our children Chinese names as well as a western given name that they would predominantly go by.
We’d sort of decided just to have three names: First + Chinese + Surname
But I’ve been wondering whether we should include the tradition of my culture, to have a middle name, such as First + Middle + Chinese + Surname
example (made up names)
[name]Laura[/name] Ai-Ping Chu - 3 names
vs
[name]Laura[/name] [name]Kate[/name] Ai-Ping Chu - 4 names
The reason for doing just three names would be that I don’t have any particular attachment to the custom of middle names. There’s less names to have to worry about picking, keeps it simple, there aren’t too many names.
The reason for doing four names would be mainly to have the “first middle” combo that Aussies are so used to. When we tell people we’re having trouble getting the Chinese name because of a number of factors, they often say “oh yes and you have to make sure it flows nicely too!” Which isn’t true- we actually would never say the names together. It’s not meant to flow, they’re meant to be used in separate situations. For example, I’d never call her [name]Laura[/name] Ai-Ping. It’s not like how sometimes families call people with their middle name eg [name]Laura[/name] [name]Kate[/name]; you’d either be calling her [name]Laura[/name], or Ai-Ping, never both together. So, if we added another middle name in there, it’d prevent people from trying (or struggling) to call her [name]Laura[/name] Ai-Ping… they’d just say [name]Laura[/name] [name]Kate[/name], if they wanted to use a middle name.
Also I like names so it would be nice to pick more than one and have nice combo that flows, and to get to use some of the names we like but wouldn’t use as a first name. And another reason is that if my husband and I don’t really like the sound of the Chinese name that our family helps us to choose, then it would be a bit nicer to have chosen two names that we chose for sound, plus one we chose for meaning/culture… than just one of each.
But on the other hand - I don’t need to use a middle name to honour anyone, and we don’t have a middle name we’re desperate to use, so we honestly could go either way - I’m just not sure what I prefer! Would love to hear some people’s thoughts and opinions.
[name]Just[/name] to put it in context a bit more… this is how the hypothetical names would be, if we used 3 or 4
4 names
Usual name: [name]Laura[/name] Chu
Full name (Australian format): [name]Laura[/name] [name]Kate[/name] Ai-Ping Chu
Full name ([name]Asian[/name] format): [name]Laura[/name] [name]Kate[/name] Chu Ai-Ping
Full Chinese name: Chu Ai-Ping
3 names
Usual name: [name]Laura[/name] Chu
Full name (Australian format): [name]Laura[/name] Ai-Ping Chu
Full name ([name]Asian[/name] format): [name]Laura[/name] Chu Ai-Ping
Full Chinese name: Chu Ai-Ping