Beautiful Traditional

 

My name is Hayuning Altunian. It is not my full name. Seven years ago, before I met my husband, it was originally Hayuning Darmastuti. My mother told me it was my father’s idea to give me this name. My name Hayuning comes from an ancient word in Jawa or Java, and it means A Beautiful Little Girl. 

A beautiful little girl is a beautiful name from my parents. It is very traditional yet so meaningful in Javanese tradition. The name Hayuning in ancient times was only used by the members of Javanese high rank and the royalty family, and the meaning of the name Darmastuti represents kindness. Is it not fascinating? “A beautiful little girl with a heart of gold” 

 Even though it is a beautiful name, I am not very fond of it. It is not because it is an ugly name, but the particular reason for this circumstance is that it is not easy to pronounce it. It is not common name for Indonesians either. On the other hand, sometimes when I look back and remember the meaning behind my name it reminds me of who I am. A beautiful woman with a kind heart. That is how I see from myself.  

For now on, I always think positively about my name and content. Even though a lot of people mispronounce my name, I am more than happy to show them the correct pronunciation or otherwise only smile at them. That is the best response so far. Hayuning Darmastuti was given by my parents proudly, and now that I am married to my husband, my last name has changed to Altunian. Hayuning Darmastuti AKA Hayuning Altunian are both amazingly beautiful names.  

That is the story behind my traditional Jawa name. It is beautiful like a needle in my flesh. However, I continue to live with it, and I am proud of it because it is part of my identity, and it does not matter how difficult it is to pronounce it. Right?  

Meghan or Mingyue

            In class, I always tell people my name is Meghan because Meghan is easy to remember and pronounce. Although all my friends call me Meghan, they also have a second choice, Mingyue Li. Let me explain and introduce the meaning of my Chinese name..

            First, my name reminds me of the history and meaning of my family. 明月 is my name. In my family, every generation's first initial is the same. For example, in my father's generation, my father and his brother had the same first word Guo国. In Chinese, Guo means city and country. In the 1960s, many families named their children Guo because the parents hoped that their children could grow up healthy and then build the beautiful country. It depended on the cultural background at that time. The 1960s was a time of rapid development in China, and parents wanted their children to contribute to the country and be proud of them. When I was born, this country was getting better and better from older generations. That is why babies who were born after 2000s were no longer to call Guo. My mother named me 明月, which is like my brother's name 明睿. She wanted our names to sound like family.

            In Chinese, my name means moon and dawn, but interestingly, this is just a phonetic coincidence. However, this name has brought me some trouble. for example, when I was trying to make an English name, it was always difficult to find a name with a similar pronunciation to Yue. At that time, I was very envious of my classmates, such as Jiaming and Jing Yue, who easily changed their Chinese names into English Jim and Joy, but I still love my name. 

If you ask me to choose my favorite name, Meghan, or Mingyue, that is the question. 

Different From Others

 My name 

My name is Yhonny Feng Cen(冯 岑). Many of my friends think that it is not my real name because it does not sound like a Chinese name. It is actually mixed by two last names. I was born in Venezuela. For this reason, I have a Spanish name. The curious thing is that my first name is in Spanish, but my last names are in Chinese because my parents were born in Chinese. Even though my parents are from Guangdong China, they decided not to give me a Chinese name because it is hard to pronounce. However, since most of my friends in the U.S are Chinese, they start calling me Rouni (肉泥 ) which means meat paste. I do not like it at all, but it is better than calling me other names. At the beginning, when I mention my name to my friends, they always think that it starts with a “J,” but it does not. I have never asked my parents what my name means because nobody asks me that kind of question and when people ask, I just say “I do not know.” Many people ask me why I have two last names, and I always answer differently. Having two last name is normal in the Hispanic culture because they use both the father's and mother's last names together. However, I still like my name because it is unique, and I did not inherit it from someone in my family or a generation before.  

The Significance of My Name

        My name is unique, and it involves special meanings. Yunting is my first name, and Mao is my last name. My father created this name for me before I was born. In Chinese, Yunting is written as 蕴婷. The character 蕴（Yun）means to contain, and it represents that people continually learn and accumulate new knowledge as they grow up. The character 婷 (Ting) expresses women's beauty, grace, and elegance, as beautiful as lotus blossoms in summer. That was why my father chose these two characters because he hoped that I could become an intelligent, excellent, and gorgeous woman. The character 毛 (Mao）is my family name, and it was inherited from my ancestors. It is famous in China because the first president was also named 毛 (Mao). He was a great leader who made advancements in China, and he was adored by many Chinese people because they believed that without him, there would be no China. Therefore, I am very lucky and honored to share the same family name. My father gave me a nickname when I was a child. He called me 小猫 (Xiao Mao), which means cat in English. There are two reasons why he called me a cat. One reason is that 毛 (Mao) is the same pronunciation as the cat in Mandarin. The other reason is that my father thought I was as cute as cats. I am so proud of my name because it’s charming and full of blessings.