What's in a Name?
I love hearing parents explain how they came up with the name of their child. Often it’s to honour a family member. Perhaps inspired by a famous celebrity or biblical figure. Maybe it’s how well it flows with the last name. Or to go with (or perhaps against) the latest trends.
My brother Jason and wife Joanna had their first son, Joshua. One month later, my good friends Rich and Jen had their first son, also named Joshua. Both adorable kids…both look like their mothers. To avoid confusion, I simply call them by their last names: Imoo and Chen.
Joshua Imoo’s middle name is Kikuo, named after our late father Lawrence Kikuo (Kikuo is Japanese). Joshua Chen’s middle name is Richard, named after his own father. Now who would name his own son after himself?
Oh yeah…my son Sean is named after me: Clayton Sean. I guess great minds think alike. Either that or we’re not that original. Kiddin…it’s all about the legacy.
Speaking of my own name, it was either Clayton Sean Imoo or Elvis Presley Imoo. Seriously. Whatever it took my mom to win the debate, I’m eternally grateful.
My buddy Gerard and wife Carolyn had Lucas Nathaniel last October. Now those are two really strong names. And he’s a strong kid. Nathaniel was one of the 4 “finalists” for our 2nd son; along with Noah, Jacob and Isaac.
Gail and I settled on Jacob Isaac. I knew they were 2 prominent biblical figures, but it wasn’t until reading my bible in the hospital the night Gail gave birth to Jake that I remembered that Jacob was Isaac’s son. And that Isaac was Abraham’s son (making Abraham Jacob’s grandpa). And that God asked Abraham to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice. I think that’s when I closed my bible.
Jacob’s middle name of Isaac goes with Sean’s middle name of Isaiah, the great prophet. If Gail and I have another boy, I wonder if we’ll go with yet another biblical name starting with the letters of “I” and “S.” I think that only leaves Ishmael. Not a lot of Asians with that name I bet.
Better than some others I’ve suggested though. Remember that my last name is pronounced (E-MO…think Finding Nemo) though I usually get “I moo” (like a cow) or “EEE-MUU” (like the bird). In fact, after hearing my name mispronounced one-too-many-times, I once had my staff members recite my last name back to me repeatedly. I still think Rob calls me Emu.
I used to like “Esk” (as in Esk-Imoo) or “Geron” (Geron-Imoo). I can only imagine if I had a last name like my friends Mark and Michelle Yu. I wonder if they were ever tempted to name Lauren or Justin something like “Hey.”
If God blesses us with child number 3, we think we’ve decided on a name for a girl. We’ve had it since Gail was pregnant with Sean back in 2000.
As for a boy’s name, it’s up in the air. Sean told me today that he had a name for a boy: Mike Joyful.
Hmmm…Michael is in the bible…we could be on to something here. “Mike Joyful?” I asked. “How did you come up with that?”
Sean replied, “Because he’ll be so happy once he knows who his brothers are.”
Mike Joyful Imoo. Has a nice ring to it…
My brother Jason and wife Joanna had their first son, Joshua. One month later, my good friends Rich and Jen had their first son, also named Joshua. Both adorable kids…both look like their mothers. To avoid confusion, I simply call them by their last names: Imoo and Chen.
Joshua Imoo’s middle name is Kikuo, named after our late father Lawrence Kikuo (Kikuo is Japanese). Joshua Chen’s middle name is Richard, named after his own father. Now who would name his own son after himself?
Oh yeah…my son Sean is named after me: Clayton Sean. I guess great minds think alike. Either that or we’re not that original. Kiddin…it’s all about the legacy.
Speaking of my own name, it was either Clayton Sean Imoo or Elvis Presley Imoo. Seriously. Whatever it took my mom to win the debate, I’m eternally grateful.
My buddy Gerard and wife Carolyn had Lucas Nathaniel last October. Now those are two really strong names. And he’s a strong kid. Nathaniel was one of the 4 “finalists” for our 2nd son; along with Noah, Jacob and Isaac.
Gail and I settled on Jacob Isaac. I knew they were 2 prominent biblical figures, but it wasn’t until reading my bible in the hospital the night Gail gave birth to Jake that I remembered that Jacob was Isaac’s son. And that Isaac was Abraham’s son (making Abraham Jacob’s grandpa). And that God asked Abraham to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice. I think that’s when I closed my bible.
Jacob’s middle name of Isaac goes with Sean’s middle name of Isaiah, the great prophet. If Gail and I have another boy, I wonder if we’ll go with yet another biblical name starting with the letters of “I” and “S.” I think that only leaves Ishmael. Not a lot of Asians with that name I bet.
Better than some others I’ve suggested though. Remember that my last name is pronounced (E-MO…think Finding Nemo) though I usually get “I moo” (like a cow) or “EEE-MUU” (like the bird). In fact, after hearing my name mispronounced one-too-many-times, I once had my staff members recite my last name back to me repeatedly. I still think Rob calls me Emu.
I used to like “Esk” (as in Esk-Imoo) or “Geron” (Geron-Imoo). I can only imagine if I had a last name like my friends Mark and Michelle Yu. I wonder if they were ever tempted to name Lauren or Justin something like “Hey.”
If God blesses us with child number 3, we think we’ve decided on a name for a girl. We’ve had it since Gail was pregnant with Sean back in 2000.
As for a boy’s name, it’s up in the air. Sean told me today that he had a name for a boy: Mike Joyful.
Hmmm…Michael is in the bible…we could be on to something here. “Mike Joyful?” I asked. “How did you come up with that?”
Sean replied, “Because he’ll be so happy once he knows who his brothers are.”
Mike Joyful Imoo. Has a nice ring to it…
posted by Clay at 2:35 AM
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