Maya Jasmine

Finally we have decided on the name!

Different people have different thoughts regarding re-naming an adopted child.
We feel that it is important that our child is given a name from her parents. The name she has now - Ruprekha - was given by the orphanage. While we will document this in her Lifebook, and we will never forget it - we feel it is important to give her a new name.

We made the decision to rename her with a name that we find very special - and one that honors her Indian heritage.
I have loved the name 'Maya' for many years. I remember telling Aj how much I loved that name - approximately 7 years ago. I had a roommate for a short time who had the name. This is when he told me that the name 'Maya' was a Hindu name. He also liked the name, so we have actually had that selected for our future daughter for several years.

The middle name was more difficult. I let Aj make the final decision on this, since 'Maya' was initially my idea.
After giving it quite a bit of thought, he finally has decided on the name 'Jasmine'.
{I'm sure that Maya will be happy someday that I veto'd all of the 'Star Trek' names!!}

The meaning of our daughter's name:
'Maya' means 'divine creative force in everything'
'Jasmine' means 'gift from God, jasmine flower'

We are not sure when the attached photo was taken - probably at 3 months. She is teeny and beautiful! We're praying that we get an updated photo soon. Several families, through our agency, picked up their babies in India this week. We hope that Maya was nearby so they could snap a photo or two for us!