Birthnames

Last weekend when we were at the park (pre-deluge), I asked the Mrs. if she ever used her daughter's birthname with her. (Her son actually goes by his birthname). She said her daughter gets mighty huffy if anyone ever calls her by it, so, no, they only use her American name.

I've been thinking about that ever since. I use my kids' birthnames with them alllllll the time. Probably half of the time with the girls, and fairly often (usually mornings and nights) with Adam. Perhaps they like to hear their birthnames because their siblings called them that, and the "bad association" with Ukraine isn't as acute? Or, maybe since I use their birthnames as terms of endearment? "Zina Ballerina" or "Valentina Ballerina" for example, and of course there's "Princess Liliana Valentina" or "Princess Aleksandra Zinaida." Adam is my "Misha bear" and has bear pajamas and bedding to go along with that theme. (Mishka evidently means "little bear.")

I have heard so many stories of Ukie kids not wanting anything to do with their birthnames once they are home in America... I just wonder if my kids always having each other takes the urgency out of "needing" to fit in to their new lives in America by using an American name.

Who knows.

That said, I am glad we changed their names. Well, we didn't totally change them, rather we moved their birth names to their middle names... It was a right of passage for us as their parents to give them new names, and also a gift to the children to give them names that wouldn't make them stick out like sore thumbs as "not from here." But, I also feel like, as long as the children LIKE their names, that I should use them. (Besides, I love their birthnames, and they are fun to say!)