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Older Children's names
My experience is probably unique, but I adopted four teenagers and their names were changed from their Russian names to an American name with their Russian name kept as their middle name. They seem to be fine with the change. They still use their Russian names when talking to each other in Russian and their American names when talking in English. Denis' name in Russian was pronounced like the female name Denise in English so going by Daniel in English works for him. Alexei became Anthony and Boris became Brian and Slava became Steven. The names were picked by them when I first met them in the orphanage when I was asking the translator what their full names were and this got interpreted as what names did they want in America. They seemed to enjoy picking a new name so I went with it and it has not been a big deal since. I think that the American names help them fit in a little bit better at school. Just one family's experience, your mileage may vary.
Pete, pop to four great kids.
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