Rick, Deborah, and Julianna's Place

Adoption--The Name

Chinese names, we have learned, are a bit complicated, not just because of the Chinese characters.

In China, names often change over one’s lifetime, with new ones given at different life stages. Julianna’s surname comes first, Pan. Sadly, we do not know the name given her by her birth parents. This particular name was assigned by the orphanage. All the children of this orphanage have the same surname, Pan. The name Xiao, which means "small," is the name given by the orphanage to all the girls whom they received in the year 2001. The only part of her name which is uniquely hers is Qian, which means "prosper." Nonetheless, it is common Chinese practice to call children by still another name. 

We do not yet know what name her foster parents have been calling her. Upon adopting her in China, we will give her an American first name, Julianna, and retain her Chinese name "Qian" as her middle name.   Julianna, a combination of Julia and Anna, means "youthful" and "gracious."  The combining of names from two cultures in some way symbolizes our intention to raise her to appreciate and honor both her birth culture and her adopted culture.