From Sarai to Sarah

So, I’ve had this post ready to post for a while, just never have posted it (is that enough "posts" in one sentence?). Since Mrs. Pam brought up the name thing in her comment to my last post, I thought I would go ahead and post this. So, here goes…

Names are a funny thing. In one country, a name will be really pretty. But, in another country…well, not so much. The name that comes to mind first when I think about that is Patricia. In Spanish speaking countries, that is said Puh-tree-see-uh with the accent on the “tri.” I think it’s really pretty. The way that name is said in English though…although nice (and I know some great people with that name), honestly it’s not my favorite. Much prettier in Spanish (or Portuguese for that matter…pronounced the same) I think.

So, here are how our names play out here and what we think we might do about it…notice I said think we might do about it.

Joel – It obviously works here. It’s pronounced different…like Jo-el, with the accent on the “el” and the “j” is a soft J, but it works.

Grady – Although an obvious American name, this is workable also. I’ve found if you just pronounce even American words with a Portuguese pronunciation, they understand. So, if someone just refuses to say Grady the way we say it (some people don’t even like to try…I’ve found that Brazilians don’t have much practice in pronouncing different sounding words/names unlike people in the U.S. who are used to all kinds of people with all kinds of names), I’ll say Grady the Brazilian way. That is just making the “r” a Brazilian R (more of a soft d sound…same as Spanish) and sometimes even making the “d” sound like a J…we try to get away with not doing that though. His name works alright just because there is a long “a” sound here. The long "a" sound is spelled “ei,” but there is at least that sound…unlike the short “a” sound as in…

Hadley – The only thing we’ve come up with is that they are just going to have to learn her name as is. So the people around us aren’t so used to pronouncing different names. But, they aren’t retarded either. They can learn. We will be patient and it will be fine. That is, unless someone just happens to give her a nickname that we like and it just sticks, although we aren’t too big into nicknames personally, so it would have to be good.

Asa – This is an actual word here. It’s pronounced Ah-zuh. Of course we knew that…”Asas de Socorro” for heaven’s sake (the organization we work with). It means “wing” which I think is a very cool meaning, even though it’s not the meaning of the name Asa. Right after we had her, it was suggested that we reconsider the spelling of her name. At the time, the suggestions given us for optional spellings just didn’t work…they didn’t give us the same pronunciation and that’s what we wanted. Besides that, we were in no mood to even think about it at that point. I had just birthed an almost 10 pound baby, we had just spent over 24 hours racking our brains about what to name her in the first place (remember, I was sure we were having a boy whose name was going to be Abel…no girl name had been settled on)…it just wasn’t a good time. Well, it wasn’t until right before we got here in Brasil that we actually found out the best optional way of spelling her name that would give us the same pronunciation. It is Eissa (remember the long “a” sound is spelled “ei”…also, a single “s” is usually said like a “z”, so you have to do a “ss” to get the “s” sound). It has actually grown on me since I found that out…and now I actually like it. Although it is not a name here (nobody has ever heard the name Eissa), when I spell it out for them they say, “Ah, Eissa.” So, will we ever change the legal spelling of Asa’s name to Eissa. Not sure. Quite possible, just to make it easier…and esp. since Asa is an actual word here (so, that makes it different than the case with Hadley’s name). We won’t be changing Grady’s spelling to Greidy though I don’t think…just because that is my grandfather’s name and the way he spelled it. Plus, again…Grady is not an actual word here, so it’s just not the same case as Asa’s.

Michawn – Oh yes, on to my fun name. First of all, let me say that Michawn is not common anywhere you go. Am I completely used to having to repeat my name over and over again…yes. Am I completely used to being called Michelle and having to correct…yes. And I completely used to having to spell my name out for people…yes (I don’t think that it ever happened in the states that someone spelled it right…I always had to spell it for them). And one more…am I completely used to people mispronouncing it even when they see the spelling…absolutely (it was super rare for someone to pronounce it correctly when just seeing it written). So, is all this new territory for me? It absolutely isn’t. And, I’ve never even minded it. In fact, I love it. When everyone else in the circle introducing themselves just says their name once and then gets skimmed over to the next person, they always have to stop at me. It is a great ice breaker, a great way to get to know people…a foot in the door. Besides that, my parents gave that name to me. It was my first present (other than life of course). And, I happen to like it (I love my name actually). Like I said before, Brazilians aren’t dumb…maybe they’ve never heard my name before, but they can learn it. And it really doesn’t seem to be a problem. People have said that it’s hard for Brazilians to pronounce a name with an “n” on the end of it. But, I’ve seen tons of names with “n” on the end…Jefferson, Warren, Wilson, Milton, etc. Maybe it’s more common for a man’s name to end with an “n,” but still…it’s not an impossible task for people to say it. Again, if you say it more like a Brazilian would say it (or spell it out for them to see, minus the “w”), they get it really easily.

Now that I’ve said that…I might possibly change my name. :) Although it’s not a big deal if I don’t and I just haven’t decided yet whether or not I want to give up my given name, it might be exactly what I’m supposed to do (for here in Brasil…you people would still call me Michawn). I mean, God gave people new names all the time didn’t He? A new name for a new season. I am definitely in a new season. So, we’ve decided to just give it some time and just pray about it. It could be fun. I do have a name picked out already for just the occasion, should it ever come. It is, of course, a name that is uncommon here (I would never be able to live with a common name) and it also doesn’t totally abandon my actual name. But, we will see. I will keep you posted. (And no…I’m not going to tell you what it is…it will be revealed later, even if I decide not to use it).

Yep, names are funny things. We have a great friend whose sister, along with her husband, just moved to Peru as missionaries. Her name is Kay Jones. That’s a regular sounding name, right? Well, it is until you say it in Spanish. Then it sounds exactly like the word in Spanish for testicles. She will be changing her name. I’m sure God got a good laugh when her parents named her…He knew her future.

Yep, names are funny things.