For those who have adopted, have your kids changed their names?
All of our kids have, some very minor and some totally different. All of them except for Larissa and hopefully Little Man had an input into their name.
Yoselin Karina became Joselin Karina
Lewis Carlos became Anthony Lewis, do not call him Tony because he won't answer.
Lewisa Carlosa became Larissa Ann (my middle name) Sometimes she is called Weesie, a name we called her from the beginning.
Cheyanne Faith became Michelle Alise (Michelle is Sarah's middle name) I liked Faith but Michelle didn't want to keep it
April Sharon became Emma Rose (Rose is Tasha's middle name, and my grandmothers)
Kassi had two middle names, she removed one and put in Ann (sharing with Larissa and myself).
The name we have chosen for Little Man is Benjamin Ross. Benjamin comes from my husbands family.
We put a lot of thought into new names. The kids also think about it for a long time. We offer suggestions and do veto some names. Emma's name of choice would have been Bambi Sparkles. Michelle was talking the other day about how much she likes her new name and is glad she could change.
Some people have a problem with changing names, they feel that you are taking away a part of the child. I don't feel that way. I think a little differently. Instead of looking back, I think that you are offering them a new beginning and an opportunity for a great future in their new family.
We plan to give our girl the option when our adoption is final. I see it as a symbolic new beginning. She's 14, so she may or may not want to. She has indicated to my husband that she has thought about changing it.
ReplyDeleteOur name changes were court ordered by the judge. The girls were thrilled to change their names. I will blog about it. You have inspired me.
ReplyDeleteFredlin and Frednise became Kaleb Fredlin and Kayla Frednise. Matched as closely as possible in Haitian tradition. But doing it over, I would do a slightly different name because we can't tell which name is being said a lot of the time. Kayla and Kaleb sound the same unless you over emphasize the a or b at the end. I would use Kaylee or Kaylin. Jaz'ier Oriente' became Jasmine Rose. We'd always called her Jaz so most people assumed her name was Jasmine.
ReplyDeleteWow, those are some original names!
DeleteWe are in the process of becoming foster parents and possibly adoptive parents. I had wondered about name changing. Did you bring it up to them or let them bring it up?
ReplyDeleteWith Anthony and Larissa we made that decision (they were young). Actually DSS recommended it for Anthony to separate from some of his past. When Emma and Michelle came along they learned that the other kids changed their names and they wanted it too.
DeleteAwesome! Thanks for responding to me :). I guess we will cross that bridge if we get there :)
DeleteWe never planned to change names, but it was recommended that we change a couple of the names for safety reasons. Since we thought we were adopting those two very soon after another one, we thought it best to change his name, too, so there was consistency and we didn't have to explain why some names were changed and others not. We had safety reasons for name changes again with another two, so we have completely changed names 5, soon to be 6 times. We are also adopting a special needs teen who joins us on Monday. I'm guessing he'll be the first to keep his name, but we'll know for sure in a few months. Our kids have all fully embraced their name changes and think it's strange that some people don't have an "old" name and a "new" name. It's very normal in this house!
ReplyDeleteWe changed Emily's name which was Ebanie. I am toying with Mr D becoming Liam and keeping his D name as his middle name since that's hubby's middle name too. S will most likely keep her name as it fits her but she'll get a new middle name. I toyed with changing it but it grew on me.
ReplyDeleteWe kept most of our son's name (adopted at 11). He liked his first name, and has used it for 11 years so we saw no reason to change it. He also strongly identified with his maternal last name, so we kept it as a middle name. He didn't know his own middle name, and really wanted to remove he paternal last name and had this inexplicable "Junior" which we also dropped. So he went from Jonah Sincere Alvarez-Martin Jr. to Jonah Martin Ourlastname. (These are not his real names!).
ReplyDeleteOnly changed Missy's name as it was so complicated having two Brianna's in the house!
ReplyDelete