Hello... again?
I'll try and do better than my last message. It won't be that difficult since all it said was... "hello"!
Ok, perhaps I should start by introducing myself. My name is (as you may have read above) Raffi Niziblian. Yes, I know what you are thinking... too many Raffi's to keep track of! How do you think we feel? I work for Scouts Canada in Montreal, Quebec. I've got a BA in communication studies and am now in the process of completing a diploma in community economic development. I live with the two best people of the female gender, my wife Lara and my 17 month old daughter Amassia. I have been to Armenia 3 times (1988, 1999 and 2001). I met Raffi Kojian and Zabel during an LCO campaign in 1999. Which I must say was one of the best experiences in my life. Lara and I are now working on settling in Armenia in the near future. I want to thank Raffi K. for giving me the opportunity to voice my thoughts and share some ideas with the readers of this log.
Speaking of names, I would like to start by say a few words about naming Armenian children. Although this topic had been an issue for me for a while, it only started becoming more apparent when we were going to have our own baby. Everyone was concerned about what the name would be. It's funny how everyone also thought that their name would be best suited for our baby. Some said that we should name him or her (since we didn't know the sex at the time) after one of our grandparents or parents... How unoriginal!
Why would I want my sons name to be Levon like my dad or Ara like Lara's? Why shouldn't my baby have his/her own identity? That's exactly what we did. Lara and I were aware of the fact that there are both anglophones and francophones (these words exist in the Canadian English dictionary) in Montreal. Hence, the name should be easily pronounced in either of the languages. Naming her an English or French name like Kathy or Suzy (Jack or Peter for boy) was OUT OF THE QUESTION. I think the caps indicate how I feel about that issue. Let me explain. There are very pretty names and quite original in the Armenian culture. Who says that we should limit ourselves to Harout, Raffi, Tamar or Mari? Well, one of the ways we tried to be original was to start looking in the history books... then we looked at names of new Armenian role models... al the end we took a look at the Amenian map. Aaaah, Amassia! That sounded great, a delicate yet proud name for an Diaspora Armenian.
So why then do most of my friends feel that they have to make it easier for the average Canadian or American by naming thier sons John and Marc or their Daughters Jennifer or Jessica? If people could say Mitsumi Takahashi (she is a News anchor woman) or Arnold Swartzenager, then why can't they say Ashot or Anush?
Well, hope I have given some people food for thought as I have received some from the other logs. Thanks Shushig and Raffi M for your great hints and ideas...
I'll try and do better than my last message. It won't be that difficult since all it said was... "hello"!
Ok, perhaps I should start by introducing myself. My name is (as you may have read above) Raffi Niziblian. Yes, I know what you are thinking... too many Raffi's to keep track of! How do you think we feel? I work for Scouts Canada in Montreal, Quebec. I've got a BA in communication studies and am now in the process of completing a diploma in community economic development. I live with the two best people of the female gender, my wife Lara and my 17 month old daughter Amassia. I have been to Armenia 3 times (1988, 1999 and 2001). I met Raffi Kojian and Zabel during an LCO campaign in 1999. Which I must say was one of the best experiences in my life. Lara and I are now working on settling in Armenia in the near future. I want to thank Raffi K. for giving me the opportunity to voice my thoughts and share some ideas with the readers of this log.
Speaking of names, I would like to start by say a few words about naming Armenian children. Although this topic had been an issue for me for a while, it only started becoming more apparent when we were going to have our own baby. Everyone was concerned about what the name would be. It's funny how everyone also thought that their name would be best suited for our baby. Some said that we should name him or her (since we didn't know the sex at the time) after one of our grandparents or parents... How unoriginal!
Why would I want my sons name to be Levon like my dad or Ara like Lara's? Why shouldn't my baby have his/her own identity? That's exactly what we did. Lara and I were aware of the fact that there are both anglophones and francophones (these words exist in the Canadian English dictionary) in Montreal. Hence, the name should be easily pronounced in either of the languages. Naming her an English or French name like Kathy or Suzy (Jack or Peter for boy) was OUT OF THE QUESTION. I think the caps indicate how I feel about that issue. Let me explain. There are very pretty names and quite original in the Armenian culture. Who says that we should limit ourselves to Harout, Raffi, Tamar or Mari? Well, one of the ways we tried to be original was to start looking in the history books... then we looked at names of new Armenian role models... al the end we took a look at the Amenian map. Aaaah, Amassia! That sounded great, a delicate yet proud name for an Diaspora Armenian.
So why then do most of my friends feel that they have to make it easier for the average Canadian or American by naming thier sons John and Marc or their Daughters Jennifer or Jessica? If people could say Mitsumi Takahashi (she is a News anchor woman) or Arnold Swartzenager, then why can't they say Ashot or Anush?
Well, hope I have given some people food for thought as I have received some from the other logs. Thanks Shushig and Raffi M for your great hints and ideas...
posted by Raffi N at 2:56 AM
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