[prekspedteach]

We are looking to adopt a child from Hong Kong who will probably be around 2 when she arrives home. If you changed your child's name around this age, how long did it take for them to respond to it?

Any comments would be greatly appreciated!

[qs mom]

Hello. Congrats on your adoption path.

I brought my son home at the beginning of July. He turned 3 at the end of August. And I changed his name.

I adopted from an Eastern European country that has a very short stay. I had him in-country for a day and a half before we boarded a plane to come home.

From the minute I hit U.S. soil, I called him by his new name. I moved his birth first name to his middle name, but I never called him by it. After 6 months, he doesn't recognize it.

It really didn't take him long to recognize his new name. After a couple weeks, maybe a month he called himself by his new name.

Although my son was in an orphanage, who knows exactly how often he was called by his name.

[JuliannaTeresa]

My Daughter was renamed by her Orphanage.

I think the previous post statement of how often are these kids who live in an Orphanage called by their name is very true!

[crathke]

We brought our son home at 31 months; he responded to his "new" name literally within days. We do know that he was called by his birth name often and with great affection while he was in his hogar awaiting our arrival.

[waitinginnj]

I adopted my Caroline at 2 years and one week old. Within a few days in the hotel room in Russia she began to respond to her new name. At first we used both and slowly dropped her Russian name. Before we left Russia, I would say "who is Caroline?" and she would point to herself. She would also point to Mommy and her aunt, who travled with me.


It is amazing to see her learn each day.

[spaypets]

My daughter was 18 months old when we picked her up in India. We had asked the orphanage to use her new name but never received word that they were doing so. We used her Indian name with her new name right away, but she instantly adapted to her new name (like within a day). DH thought she looked upset when we called her by her Indian name, so who knows. By the time we left India at the end of the week, she knew her new name.

[ll_bay]

My take is a little different. Our youngest was just over 3 when we brought her home, and had only been in the orphanage a year. She was called by her birth name there, and as she got excellent care, she heard it all the time, so we NEVER would have dreamt of abruptly changing it. After all, it was one of the only pieces of her past she could bring with her. Instead, we gave both her and her sister, adopted at age 6, new middle names (the had none before), and it is up to them which name to use and when. The youngest, who just turned 4, oscillates all the time and often wants to be called by both; the eldest often says she wants to use her middle name but never "enforces" it the way her sister does. All this is just my 2 cents, of course. Maybe with a younger toddler, a child who has an "orphanage name," or a child who got scant attention in an orphanage, I would feel differently, who knows?

[Sheriv]

My opinion really differs. Our newly adopted, freshly three year old son very much knew his name. He had been in the orphanage since 6 months, was treated well and was referred to by his birth name by both the workers and the other children. We have given him a new first name and he responds to that but we call him by his birth name. He did not know his middle name nor last name and has adjusted very nicely to having a first, middle and last name not that all of that is important right now to him. I think that older children know who they are and its important to acknowledge that you accept that and them as they are.

[chucknfw]

My two cents....

We just returned with three children from Russia. A 2 1/2 year old boy, a seven year old girl, and a twelve year old boy. We have given each an American name to go with their Russian name. Slava Andrew and Valya Joy are old enough to understand family and that they have new lives now. They each , at this point, will have the choice of what name they want to be called. But for the toddler, its different.

Sasha doesn't quite understand what a mom and a dad are at this point. He was in an orphanage from the beginning and we feel that he needs a new identity through his name. There is a biblical basis for this. When God chose to set-apart someone for His purpose, he would often change their name to symbolize this change(Abram-Abraham, Simon-Peter). We started out calling him Sasha as is his Russian nick-name for Alexander. We are now transitioning by calling him Michael Sasha and will go to just Michael soon.

There are faith reasons that we chose Andrew and Joy for the older two and there might be a point where we think it is appropriate to make that change for them. When they grow to understand who they are as a child of God and what that means in their life then that name switch might be a good marker for them. We'll see.

[Bcelli]

This is an interesting thread. My husband and I are in the final paperwork stages (our last batch goes out today) and we are hoping for a toddler boy 2-4, though we gave 0-4 as an age range. (Russia is our country)

We intend to give our son a name chosen just for him by his forever parents, though we continue to struggle with the identity issues associated with a child who has reached the age of cognizance. We feel, though, that his American name is equally a part of his heritage and it is good to hear most parents have had good response from their children with regard to adjustment.

Thanks for the input.

[mgibson]

We had only used our son's new name two or three times prior to arriving home. Once home our family called him by his "american" name, we were still using the russian one. He immediatly responded to both without much exposure at all to the new name. We were shocked. (He was 17M then)

[Kelly12345]

Our daughter was 27 mos when she came home, we kept her Ukrainian name, Anastasia, but she was called "Nastya" or for a nick name in UA. So we began calling her Anastasia Nastya the first couple days, as time went on we dropped the Nastya (about a month or two) she had no problems answering to Anastasia.

Fast forward a year and a half later... at the age of 3 1/2 she was in preschool we were talking about our names (I was her teacher) and when she was asked what her name is she answered "Nastya" so we have really worked on her name since then. Asking her what her name is very often for the coming months, she now answers "Anastasia". But she does tell you "In Ukraine they called me Nastya" If she is very intently doing something and doesn't answer to Anastasia, she will answer to Nastya!! Interesting.

[suburbanmomgw]

We've been home from Russia with our 20 month old boy for a week and a half. We kept his name--Alexander. But the orphanage called him by the nick name Sasha. He responds to Sasha. We decided to call him that only at home and use Alexander with anyone outside the house...friends and family. As of now, he ignores Alexander--I think on purpose(he is very stubborn on other issues too)...If we need his immediate attention, we use Sasha. I am sure he will understand soon. And I think Sasha will remain a term of endearment from mom and dad.

[tweetie92]

We adopted our two sons from Russia two years ago when they were toddlers. We began calling them their new names within the first week we were back home in the US. It took them about a week to get used to the new names and they were just fine.

Best wishes!

[ModernMother]

We are adopting a 2.5 yo from India. Her name is Ranigandha (Rah-nih-GUN-duh). We wanted to change her name but have it be similar We have chosen Arani (uh-RAH-nee) but plan to call her Rani (RAH-nee). We informed our agency who informed the orphanage and they have been calling her Rani. On our last video she responded to Rani quite well. I'm thrilled for this turn of events!