Name Game

Pig will have two first names. First, her official "English" one, which will be imprinted on her social security card and will be what she uses in school, taxes etc... and the second will be her Korean name which my parents are hopefully working on.

I was born with one name and then when we immigrated to the States, took on another. My dad felt it would be easier for my sister and I to have "American" names...I think perhaps he was right everytime I hear a telemarketer butcher my parents names. Names sonorous back in Korea and fraught with meaning and good intentions here become the butt of jokes. Perhaps that is why I'm so delighted with my new married surname. Difficult to pronounce, gorgeous combinations of rarely used consonants...it's like handing someone a Rubik's Cube and asking them to solve it in 2 seconds. Telemarketers who call the house must first pass the name test. They'll get a little leeway unless they want to conduct a "short" survey, then it must be perfect and I want enunciation, you're not getting away with any mumbling with me.

I digress, point is, I've always wondered what my official name is. Is it the one my parents gave me at birth or is it the one I use more? My parents use my name interchangeably. Since I married K, I've noticed that they use my "American" one more. But, I respond to both. Until a few weeks after our wedding, my Korean name served as my middle, now replaced by my maiden name. My Korean name was selected after much thought by my parents, the other was kinda spur of the moment, provided by the principal of the preschool I attended. But this was the name that K used when we exchanged wedding vows. My sister never uses my Korean name. It's kinda sad to think that when my parents are gone, no one will ever call me by Korean name.

But I wouldn't have wanted it otherwise. It's pretty cool to have two names. Oddly when I was growing up kids in school thought it was pretty interesting too, I did get some teasing but nothing too bad. So I'd like Pig to have the ability to tell two stories as well.