The Possible Names

I've selected a name:

Noelle <Chinese Name> Kirchhoff

I'll probably call her Ellie or maybe a nickname she got while in the orphanage.

She will have a Chinese name. Most of the orphans in China are named by the orphanage staff. A very few are found with notes from their birth parents which will indicate a name, but this is very unusual. Depending upon her age, I will likely give my daughter an American first name or middle name -- keeping all or part of her Chinese name as the other half. I'm not sure exactly at what age I draw my line, but it may be around 18 months of age. I think you really identify with your name with yourself by 18 months, and I don't know if I'd want to mess with that (I'm messing with so much of her familiar things already at that point -- new people, new language, new facial features, new places ...). Regardless of which comes first on her official paperwork, she'll have her Chinese name and her English name and as she gets older she can choose her preference, if that is what she'd like to do.

I spent awhile looking up options at Baby Name Resources, Baby Name Finder, and this cool site at the Social Security Administration. I didn't quite get through the entire alphabet, when I realized that Noelle was her name (and, yes, I did settle on it around Christmas time. You can check out some of the other names I considered below.

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Abeni Christa Eve, Eva
Abigail (Abby) Cian Frances
Adelaide Cianna Genevieve (Evie)
Adeline Clara Grace
Adelle (Ada) Claudia Hope
Adie Constance Irene
Adrienne Corina Isabella (Ellie, Izzie)
Agatha (Aggie) Dale Joely
Agnes Dalia Josephine (Jo, Joey)
Alana   Joy
Alice Dora Lily
Alicia   Lucy
Anais Dorothea (Dotty) Madeleine
Anika Edana Margaret (Meg, Maggie)
Anna Edith (Edie) Maura
Annabelle Eleni May
Beatrice (Bea) Elia Mirabel
Belle, Bella Eliana (Ellie) Nell
  Eliza Noelle
  Elizabeth (Betsy, Ellie) Penelope (Penny, Ellie)
Camilla Ella (Ellie) Rose
Cara Eloise Serena
Catherine (Cayla) Elsie Sophia, Sophie
Chelsea Erin Tabitha
Chloe Esther

Last updated on March 15, 2004
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