The Significance of A Name

When you children were born, how did you decide what to name them?

Were their names long-cherished, waiting to be bestowed on that precious child? Or did you flip through many baby books and solicit ideas from friends before finally settling on that one name? Perhaps you sought the help of a geomancer for a auspicious name in order to give your child the best headstart in life. Or used a family name for that connection with your roots. Whatever the case, it is clear that when it comes to names, it is not something that parents would decide upon lightly.

When we were expecting our first child, we also agonised over what to name him. All my previously selected favourite names had fallen out of favour with me or were so popular that everyone was using them. The husband on the other hand had a preference for more serious, traditional names. My criteria was that it had to be a proper name (ie. not something made up or with some newfangled spelling or would cause people to folks you meet to do a double-take and still get your name wrong). For this, my benchmark was that my child should be able to find his name on a mug if he wanted one!

We subsequently decided that we wanted a biblical name, which narrowed the field significantly. Still it wasn’t easy to choose because biblical names, well they all sound SO OLD. I kept rejecting each of the husband’s suggestions, complaining that I was giving birth to a baby, not an old man!

In the end, we chose NOAH for various reasons. For one, I grudgingly came to accept that Noah was not an old man’s name. Noah Wyle helped. But the main reason for our choice was our prayer that he would be a man like the Noah of old, who walked with God and was a man after His own heart.“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord… Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.” (Genesis 6:8-9)

We in fact also based his Chinese name on another verse about Noah, Hebrews 11:7: “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” (Hebrews 11:7). Noah’s Chinese name (which we came up with by ourselves!) means “heir of righteousness” — someone that we hope he will become too, an inheritor of the righteousness which is by faith.

Then baby #2 came along, and she was a girl! We went back to the bible as our source of inspiration but found that the choices were fairly limited since there are much fewer female names in the bible as there are male ones. On top of that, most of my favourites were already taken by close family members. It might surprise you but we actually deliberately set out NOT to pick another “N” name, the reason being that we didn’t want to unnecessarily restrict ourselves in the event that we had a third kid. But as it turned out the one name that we both loved was the one name that started with “N” — NAOMI. The name Naomi also means “pleasant” and “delightful”, which we naturally prayed she would be. A delight not just to us and those around her, but also to the Lord. Her Chinese name, which we picked to match Noah’s, also conveys the meaning of singing a song of praise to the Lord.

Do names have a bearing on how one turns out? Well, I wouldn’t say they define us, but we have noticed some correlations in our two children. We can’t say yet that our Noah will turn out to be a man of faith. But he has always shown a seriousness about our faith and a grasp of some of the concepts that belie his age. He also has a great fondness for animals! As for my little Mei, she is truly a delight. (Let’s see what happens when the teen years hit!)

A name symbolises our parents’ dreams for us, in virtues, in faith and in life. Our names are a big part of who we are, and this is what Nutella seeks to celebrate with their #YourNutella campaign, where you can get your very own personal Nutella — WITH YOUR NAME ON IT!

My kids, Mei in particular, are huge Nutella fans, and were thrilled to each get their very own jar. (Incidentally, I learnt at the #YourNutella launch that it’s actually “new-tella” not “nut-tella” like I’ve been saying all these years! So now you know.)

If you want to grab your own, the good news is that you can for just $5! Head on down to the launch event roadshow happening at Bugis+ from 7 to 13 September and personalise your own Nutella jar in 4 easy steps:

Step 1: Purchase an empty Nutella jar for $5.
Step 2: Approach the facilitators who will help you key your name in at the iPad station.
Step 3: Place your empty jar on the conveyor belt and press the green button to send it into the giant Nutella jar for processing.
Step 4: Watch as your name is flashed on the giant Nutella jar before collecting your personalised Nutella jar (filled with Nutella goodness)!

Bonus Step 5: Take a picture at the photo booth with your very own Nutella!

If you are unable to head down to Bugis+, come October, you can also head down to participating supermarkets which will also carry name label standees of popular names. Stay tuned too to the launch of the YourNutella.com website where you can customise your own name labels (NB: just the label, not the Nutella) which will be sent to you through snail mail.

But if you ask me, just head on down to Bugis+ this week to get your personalised Nutella. It’s fuss-free, fun, and you get a jar of Nutella to eat on the spot! I’ve got big plans for our bottles, starting with some cake I’ve been meaning to bake for a while. *Yum!*

*We attended the #YourNutella launch on a media invite and were rewarded with our own personalised jars of Nutella. Just spreading the word because I think the personalised jar is such a fun thing to have! Thanks Nutella!