In the adoption world changing a child's name is something some people frown upon and others agree that it is a family decision. From the beginning of the process I always had plans to give a new name to my son as well as my last name. I did not have a specific one picked out until I saw his picture but I had a list on my phone. When I saw him I knew what his new name would be.
Why did I feel the need to change his name?
1) It gives him a fresh start and a new identity in his new family and culture. He will know that he is loved when he hears his new name. I honestly believe that Wyatt didn't have positive experiences with his name and wouldn't have heard it outside of when he was given commands to do something. His Mother after he was born never cared for him or visited from what I understand. He was given a very common Bulgarian name.
2) I wanted him to have a name people are familiar with and can pronounce correctly (I am not good at saying his birth names).
3) I wanted to be able to give him a name with significance to me.
When I spent time with Wyatt in summer 2014, I called him by his Bulgarian name (although I did test out Wyatt to make sure I thought it suited him). On Gotcha day, I started using Wyatt with his other name and we found that he responded the same to either name and so by the time we left Bulgaria for home we were just calling him Wyatt. I had planned to use them together for weeks but it wasn't necessary.
I kept his first name in Bulgaria as a middle name. It is a way to honour and remember his first seven years and to have a tie to that part of his story. I picked his first name because I loved it and his other middle name is after someone who impacted my life in a huge way during his years on earth. He spoke words of life and promise over me when we would speak with each other. He loved God deeply and believed that God had purposes for our time on earth. Wyatt will never meet him this side of heaven but a reason I am where I am in life today is because of Pastor Tim.
