Our first Adopted child came to us at the age of 3 with five names (yep). We kept the first two and added our last name. We tried to give him a nickname but he was very tied to his name so he kept it. (Currently, he now at the age of 12, has talked about picking his own Christian name that has meaning for his life.) Our 2nd adopted child was from Asia and had a name picked for him by the orphanage. We kept it for his middle name and picked an English name which had a similar meaning. (Currently, he hates his Chinese name and wants an English middle name.)
Now we face the task of naming our first adopted daughter who is also from China. She, like her Asian brother when adopted, is seven years old and was given her name by the children's home. After much searching and debate we have picked her name much as we did for our bio kids: it shows our thoughts toward her and what we hope for her life.
Please welcome to our family Willow Joy Xian Osowski
Willow means resiliant and graceful and not easily broken; what we hope for this daughter who suffers from brittle bones.
Joy; we pray she will know the joy of a relationship with her savior.
Xian; her current Chinese name which means gentle and elegant.
Osowski; which means she will be part of a big, crazy family who will love her.
One of the reasons we picked Willow is that we thought to use Loey as a nickname. This was the nickname that both of our mothers (both Lois) were called by their husbands; a tribute to our love for them and their memories.
