What's in a name?
- By Robert Phoenix
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Global Times, July 13, 2011
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| [By Peter C. Espina/Global Times ] |
The most interesting thing about the strange name the Beckhams chose for their daughter, Harper Seven, is their denial of why they chose it. The obvious reason for their choice is that Harper's father David played as number seven for Manchester United. But David, perhaps realizing what a low-brow egoist this makes him appear, hinted on his Facebook page the reason was because she "weighed a healthy 7 lbs 10 oz and arrived at 7:55." A publicist pushed this theory, telling the press, "Seven is a very lucky happy number and the baby was born just after 7 am, in the seventh month."
It reminds me of when a Beijing Olympic Committee member dismissed an observation in the foreign press that the Olympic opening ceremony would be held on 8/8/08 at 8:08 pm because 8 is a lucky number in China. The official said China did not choose the date, and the time was chosen because it's when big galas traditionally start, and in addition the light conditions would be ideal for fireworks.
I support the name Seven: the decision to endow Harper with a name that recalls her father's illustrious career open doors for her. This tactic is very familiar to Chinese people, where class background is also very important. In the 1950s and 60s, having a strong revolutionary pedigree was crucial to success. This partly explains why my girlfriend's mother was named Jianguo (build the country). Popular names during the Korean war include Yuanchao (Aid Korea) and Kangmei (Resist America).
As the country shifted its focus to making money, baby names changed as well. My friend says her parents named her Chang because it meant a good career path lay ahead for her. One quirk of living in China is that many local people adopt English names that have nothing to do with their Chinese ones. In fact, I've had several English students call themselves David because they were fans of Beckham (although none so far have had the leap of imagination to call themselves Seven). In turn, we foreigners are expected to adopt Chinese names. My favorite so far belonged to a young female African classmate who wore designer tracksuits with matching sneakers to class every day. She was called Wu Beibei (pronounced Oh Baby).
Chang had twin boys with her Welsh husband. Her Chinese family members call them Bryn and Arthur. A half century after the name Chaoying (surpass England) was in vogue, the boys' foreign names are seen as a gateway to a bright future in today's increasingly cosmopolitan world.
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