I have three names. Aaron, Yao Yu, and Lu. 

In Hebrew, Aaron means “high mountain” or a “mountain of strength,” and other interpretations of its meaning include “exalted” and “strong” (Ohwovoriole). It was a name given to me by my sister when I moved to Canada, and it was chosen so that I would be first if a list was ranked alphabetically by first name. Ultimately, that strategy didn’t work out, as most lists were ranked by last name. And since I’ve only been “Aaron” since I was ten, I don’t feel that the name impacts me much–but my original Chinese name does. 

The two characters, “Yao” and “Yu,” mean “bright” and “planet” respectively in Chinese, and the name is given to me by my father. “Yu” was a character that was also in my older sister’s name, as it is a Chinese tradition to have a common character in the names of siblings. This means that “Yao” is the only character in my name that is directed solely towards myself and not anyone else in my family, and I feel that the character fits me well. I believe that bright can have two meanings, one being successful and the other being energetic. Implicitly, “Yao” has pushed me to work hard and improve myself everyday; on the other hand, it has also encouraged me to bring positive energy to anything that I do, like a bright light in a dark room. 

I also wonder why my parents gave me my Chinese name. Would “Yu” be representative of their hopes for their children to explore the unknown and everything on the planet? That is a question that I will ask my father the next time I get a chance. And as a fun fact, my English name used to be “Yoyo” when I lived in China, and I don’t have a slightest clue why that was the name I was given. 

Works Cited

Edelman, Amelia. “Aaron.” SheKnows, 24 Sept. 2020, https://www.sheknows.com/baby-names/name/aaron/. 

Ohwovoriole, Toketemu. “Aaron Name Meaning.” Verywell Family, Verywell Family, 8 Aug. 2021, https://www.verywellfamily.com/aaron-name-meaning-origin-popularity-5181582#:~:text=It%20means%20%E2%80%9Cexalted%E2%80%9D%20or%20%E2%80%9C,has%20been%20adapted%20in%20English.