Baby X: The Name Game, Part II
Maria and I have exhausted ourselves trying to come up with a name we both like. We’re down to a very short list: Tei (pronounced “Tay” - an uncommon name in Japan), Masa (a common name, typically used in combination with something else, e.g. “Masahiro,” but we’re thinking of using it by itself), or Masai (an uncommon variation of Masa - the ending is pronounced like samurai).
We’ve settled on a middle name: Lee, which is my mother’s middle name. Since it works as a boy’s name too, it’s a nice way to work in some mother-honoring since we’ll have two boys, and we’re not going to have a third kid. So putting it all together, we have these possibilities…
Tei Lee Toppa
Masa Lee Toppa
Masai Lee Toppa
When we were previously considering Gen, I realized it wouldn’t work with Lee, because then he’d be General Lee!
I like the confluence of cultures: a Japanese first name, a middle name from the South (my maternal grandmother is from Virginia), and an Italian last name. It’s also interesting how the names might be misunderstood: the Masai people of Eastern Africa are famous warriors, and Lee is a common Chinese name, so some may mistake him for Chinese.
June 22nd, 2005 at 7:38 am
I like Masai. Masa hits me as a feminine name because in portuguese everything that ends with an A is feminine (that’s just my latin language hang up since that is not the case in japanese). Tei and Lee seem a little to similar sounding to roll of teh tongue together. Masai I think works well pretty much across the board.
My 2 cents. Not that theya re really worth anything in this discussion
June 22nd, 2005 at 9:33 am
You’re aren’t making it easy. I don’t really like any of those names.
Tei Lee sounds like a Hong Kong martial artist movie star, so that’s not too bad. Except it doesn’t sound Japanese.
Masa is what you make tomales from.
And the Maasai are famous for the diet of cow’s fluids: milk and blood. All that fat and cholesterol yet they traditionally are free from heart disease. Must be all that jumping.
So, go with Masai! Yeah, now I’m starting to like it.
Though Lee has got to go.
June 22nd, 2005 at 3:57 pm
I’d have to go with Masai.
“Masa Lee” would be a damn good name for a slave owner.