Wednesday, October 4, 2017

How Did I Choose My Children's Names.

Hello everyone :)

If you haven't know, I've just delivered my second child 6 days ago.

We named him Emmett Siew.

Well, actually I decided on both our children's English name and my husband just gladly agreed cause that's how much he loves me haha. He did had some opinions when we were choosing a name for our first born, though.

Name For My First Born


When I was pregnant with my first born, without knowing the gender yet, I wanted very much to name it Geronimo as the song Geronimo by Sheppard was a hit back then. I went to further search for the meaning of it and fell in love with the name immediately.


It means taking a leap of faith. And that's what I wish for my child. I wish he would take a leap of faith in whatever he does. Also because I was really into Red Indian names. I seriously considered Pocahontas if it's a girl.

Of course, my husband and some close friends said NO to the idea πŸ˜’ First of all, both are quite difficult to pronounce as there're 4 syllabus πŸ˜’ Secondly, it's NOT COMMON.

Why? Why should I give my baby a common name? It's supposed to be something special and personal, no?

Soon enough, the gender was confirmed and Geronimo was not an option anymore. I briefly considered the name Faith as I wanted a name with a similar meaning but I didn't quite like it myself. I mean, I love the name Faith. Faith Hill is one of my favourite female singers of all time. But we're living in an Asian country. With Chinese. I recall how I was called θ‚₯婆 growing up as I was really overweight throughout my primary school years. I kinda had a fear that it will happen to my daughter in the future. And to think that her friends might use that name to tease her even further, I brushed that idea off quickly.

The other names I had in mind were Rachel, Emma, Ariel, Abigail, Danielle, Joelle, Noelle and Gabrielle. Rachel and Emma was on the top of my list and they're both inspired by one of my all time favourite TV shows, F.R.I.E.N.D.S..

Rachel is a pretty and funny character in the show.

Emma is the love child of Ross and Rachel. Rachel actually stole the baby's name from Monica.

ANYONE IS A FAN OF THIS SHOW LIKE ME!? πŸ˜…

Also because, I really admire Emma Watson and Emma Stone. Geees I sound like a TV/ movie junkie πŸ˜… Or maybe I am 😜

But!!! I have too many friends with the name Rachel and the husband didn't really like the name Emma. He said Chinese will usually make fun with that name (阿妈、你妈、二妈 etc.)

I was quite frustrated but I somehow agreed about the teasing part as I was a victim myself when I was younger. So I decided to sit on it and not rush into giving the fetus a name yet.

Then one day, I saw on Facebook how people are betting over the name of the Royal Princess. I don't remember exactly what were the names people were betting on but when I saw the name Charlotte, it was an instant "AHA! That's it!" moment! By the way, Charlotte Siew was born 2 days before Princess Charlotte so... I didn't steal the name ho. I was inspired lol.


Of course, I went to further search for the meaning of the name and it says "Free Man" and I love it. It means a person who is after her own will. And it's a beautiful thing to know what your own will is and to go after it. I really hope that for her and no matter what it is, it comes with a good conscious.


So Charlotte it is.

Name For My Second Born


I knew the gender of my second child quite early and I sorta 60% decided to name him Emmett already. I'm not really sure what happened to Geronimo lol but whatever name I briefly considered later was somehow brushed off easily.

Why Emmett?

Firstly, it's to make up for not being able to use the name Emma lololol. Secondly, it's inspired by this cute guy...

Emmett Bledsoe, one of my favourite fictional characters from the TV show Switched At Birth.

And thirdly, it rhymes with Charlotte!

I did considered names like Noah, Noel, Daniel and Gabriel but Emmett just stands out.

Oh, let me also tell you the story of how the husband approves of this name lol.

One day, he came home after a long day of work. As usual, he was telling me about his day and some funny encounter with passengers.

"Oh ya, today I went to pick up a passenger from XX. He was on time, already waiting at the lobby when I arrived. He was very polite and he looks decent and smart. He's considered my first ever Golden Passenger."

"Wow, that's great! I wish you could come across more passengers like that on a daily basis."

"So, is our son's name Emmett?"

"Huh? Erm... I think so (I was still indecisive lol), why?"

"Cause this passenger's name is Emmett."

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL! Emmett it is!

A lot of my friends and family members were rooting for me to name him Charles. 
Charles Siew... seriously!?!?

So there you go, the story of how I chose the names for my children πŸ’— If you're a parent, tell me how did you choose your children's name. I would love to hear your story.