I opened my browser up the other day and found a Yahoo news article about a couple who’d been told that the name they’d chosen for their child was not acceptable. I had to read that article of course. It turns out a lot of countries actually control the names parents are allowed to name their children. Well slap me silly! Here’s what I came up with.

Names

Guo and Nuan Lo stood proudly in the temple. It was Naming Day for their new daughter. The priest had the sacred oil ready; the mandatory government functionary was at Guo’s left. Friends and family were standing behind the couple. Naming Day gifts were on the table at the couple’s home, ready to open after the feast.
The priest lit the incense, chanting prayers to Guo’s and Nuan’s ancestors, calling them to witness the new name of the baby girl Nuan held in her arms. Nuan adjusted the tiny red cap the baby wore, matching her red silk dress and tiny baby shoes. She worried a little that the ancestors, or the majority of them anyway, were back on Earth. There were only two generations of ancestors here on New Peking. She hoped that was enough to bring luck to the new female.
The priest struck the alter bell three times, completing the ancestor summoning. Holding the bowl of sacred oil, he approached the couple. Nuan handed the baby to Guo, it was his responsibility to name the child.
Holding his oil covered thumb over the baby’s forehead, the priest asked, “What is the girl child’s name?”
Guo pulled his shoulders back and in a clear voice said, “Ixcheu.”
Nuan stiffened at the gasp from the audience. She saw her husband point his chin higher as the mouth of government man beside him dropped open.
He turned red. “You can’t name the baby that! That’s an alien name. Only Chinese names are authorized!”
Nuan blushed at the insult to their friend, Revik, at the back of the audience.
Her husband turned to the government man, “I have worked with the aliens for years. I have made many friends among them, one of them, Revik, my best friend. It is time to do that friendship honor. The child’s name shall be Ixcheu.” He faced the priest, “Her name is as I say.”
The priest looked to the government man.
The man grew red, “It is not authorized. Priest, name the girl, Yi, meaning Suitable.”
Nervously, the priest stepped forward, dabbed the girl with sacred oil on earlobes, forehead and chin, “You are named,” and as he said, “Yi,” Guo shouted, “Ixcheu.”
The audience gasped and began murmuring with their neighbors as the priest finished the rites. The parents, priest and government man stepped to the monitor to record the name. The government man forced his way to the monitor ahead of Guo, causing more audience comments over the bad manners of the man. He typed in Yi, and hit the send button, turning triumphantly to the parents.
“It is official, her name is Yi.” He bowed a micrometer to the parents, then a little deeper to the priest; and marched out of the temple.
Five years later, Yi, called Ixcheu, by her parents, came to class for the first time. Again, the teacher, maintaining colony custom, began by calling the girl, Yi. She refused to respond until the teacher called her Ixcheu. Thus, each year, the girl had a battle of wills with her new teacher and each year she won.
Upon her graduation from college, as a lawyer, her first action was to petition the government to change the law concerning naming conventions for the colony. By now, many children were in name limbo, their parents trying to honor alien friends and mentors but the government refused to relax the naming conventions.
Using all of those people as her base, she challenged the government. The day of the trial arrived.
In her closing argument she maintained, “Your honor, the time has passed for strict adherence to an archaic policy. I certainly understand the desire to maintain our traditional culture. However, it’s time to embrace the new culture, a mixed culture of human and alien. Mandatory naming conventions don’t strengthen our culture, it weakens our ties to the multi-cultural environment that exists today. It’s an insult to our alien, and to our non-Chinese human co-workers and friends.”
The government lawyer glared at her. She froze for a moment but gathered her resolve and continued. “My esteemed colleague,” she nodded to him, “contends that our heritage would be lost if we allowed other than traditional Chinese names. That it’s an affront to our ancestors to use non-Chinese or non-human names. I insist that it’s an honor to use these non-traditional names, an honor to the friends and co-workers among us who are not of Chinese ancestry.”
The judge pounded his gavel at the noise from the audience. “Quiet in the courtroom.”
Ixcheu took that time to sip some water. Her stomach was in a knot and her hands were sweaty. Once the courtroom settled down, she continued.
“Your honor, our history reports the concern our ancestors had about our heritage when we first arrived on New Peking. So many non-Chinese and aliens were among us, they thought our culture would be lost. I can appreciate that. But that was one hundred years ago. Nothing remains static, we must make allowances for changing social structures, not remain locked in a rigid system that refuses all change and growth. Please, Your Honor, allow the law to be changed.”
She sat down, the judge glaring at her. Finally he recessed the court until the next day. He’d give his judgment then.
Ixcheu spent the night with her family and friends examining the trial from every angle, trying to guess how the judge would rule.
The next day, the judge rapped the gavel on his stand once, and Ixcheu and the government representative rose. The judge looked between them, Ixcheu couldn’t read his face. She clenched and unclenched her fists, her stomach in knots. The judge took a deep breath and stared at Ixcheu.
“I rule in favor of the petitioner, Yi Lo, henceforth to be known, officially, as Ixcheu Lo.” He rapped his gavel and the courtroom erupted in cheers.

The End
985 Words
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