Indian girls changing lst name:unwanted to better names

[shootingstar]

Some little girls who were allowed to change their first name, which meant "unwanted" in Hindi to a name of their choosing.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/ar...discrimination

How cool and heartening!

[lph]

How appalling to give a child a name that means "unwanted"

[alexis_the_tiny]

Its absolutely dreadful that a girl can be called 'unwanted' but I'm glad someone decided to break that practice and empower these girls.

[shootingstar]

I found the photo, nearly heartbreaking --in a happy way for them. It is really is a special occasion for them.

[bmccasland]

Wow! It's one thing to grow up feeling like the red-headed-unwanted-ugly-stepchild, it's another to be named red-headed-unwanted-ugly-stepchild (so to speak).

I'd pick a new name too. You go girls! And three cheers for the school officials who facilitated the changes.

[Biciclista]

I saw that!!
on the other hand, a lot of our names (for girls) mean sad things. Like Miriam/Mary:bitter
Dolores : pain

[bmccasland]

I saw that!!
on the other hand, a lot of our names (for girls) mean sad things. Like Miriam/Mary:bitter
Dolores : pain

But I think that we grow up without knowing the meaning of our names (at least in english speaking countries), it's just a name, or may have some family connection - I got my grandmother's names - could have been Gretchen Blanche if the order went the other way. I'm taking from the article that the girls know the meanings of their names. So instead of being named Miriam, you're named "Bitter".

[Biciclista]

yeah, good point Beth
On the other hand, millions of Italians carry names like "Trovato" and "Esposito" which refers to the fact than a long ago ancestor was born out of wedlock and "Found" or "Exposed to the world"

[channlluv]

DH's last name literally translates to "complaining, or spoken of in a complaining way." According to family legend, an ancestor who was an advisor in the royal court pissed off the king and the king changed his surname.

Names are cool and I'm glad these little girls had a chance to choose something of their own. Names hold power.


Roxy - who was named after a stripper my dad had a crush on, but whose name translates to "illumination" or "bright dawn" or "bright heaven" -- I sneakily named my daughter after me, choosing as her middle name the Hawaiian word for "bright heaven" where the gods come from.