What's in a name?

Did you know.....that until recently, it was common practice in Chinese orphanages to give an abandoned child a surname (last name) that would signify his or her orphan status.  For instance, many children would carry the last name of Guo (meaning "state") signifying that they were under the care of the state or Guang because they were found in the Guangdong province.  With this practice, even after leaving the orphanage, everyone would know these children were orphans and therefore (in the eyes of many) lower class citizens....as if the deck was not already stacked against them.  But recently, the Chinese government passed a new law eliminating this awful practice and encouraging administrators to instead give orphans one of the 100 most common Chinese surnames.  

We chose to name our daughter Sophia Chen.  "Sophia" is the Greek word for wisdom, specifically Godly wisdom.  It's used in Luke 2:40 speaking about Jesus, "And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him."  Not a bad calling card for our beautiful daughter!

"Chen" was given to our daughter in China, and we chose to keep it as a tie to her Chinese heritage.  This name means morning or dawn.  I love this too! I feel it signifies a fresh start for our precious daughter, a life of hope and promise and knowledge of the Bright Morning Star, our savior Jesus Christ (Revelation 22:16).

I, myself, can't think of a better name.  :)