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Guang dropped as surname for Guangzhou orphans
(Agencies)
Updated: 2006-02-14 08:56
Starting this year, Guangzhou's orphanage has stopped giving its wards the
surname "Guang" to prevent them from being identified as orphans.
All children adopted by the orphanage are being given the surname "Li" this
year, the Guangzhou-based Southern Metropolis Daily said yesterday. "Wang" will
be used next year, followed by other Chinese surnames listed in the
"Baijiaxing," a book of 100 common surnames.
Staff members of the orphanage said they would also try to think of unique
names for each child, rather than middle names representing the location of
orphanage, and a randomly picked given name.
The children can also pick their own name later if they do not like the name
given by the institute, the head of the orphanage said.
Abandoned children are given their names upon entering the orphanage, the
paper said. With several hundred children living in the institute, and a small
number of staff members, children are normally given the surname "Guang,"
representing Guangzhou, followed by one of several middle names, such as "Tian,"
"Bai," or "Li" which represent Tianhe, Baiyun and Liwan districts respectively.
The given names provided are "Yong," meaning bravery, or "Hong," meaning
redness. Other given names often chosen are "Qiang," "Wen," "Ping" or "Cui"
meaning strength, literacy, duckweed and green respectively.
These names often mark them out as having been residents of the orphanage,
and are not good for their psychology when they try to interact with the outside
world, the orphanage has found.
In China, such a practice of naming is widely adopted in orphanages. In
Shenzhen, children in the welfare center are often given the surname "Shen."
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