A Special Name with Many Red Thread Connections

John and I have settled on what we believe to be the perfect name for Fang Ran. When John first saw her picture, the name that came to mind was Anna. John’s Grandmother on his Father’s side was named Anna and my Great-grandmother (who I adored) on my Mother’s side was also Anna. And John loves the name. We’ve gone down many lists and Anna keeps coming back to us. Also, when I look at Fang Ran's beautiful face it fits the classic name.

Now onto the middle name. My mother's middle name is Lynne and John's sister's name is Linda (although everyone calls her Lin). Lin in Chinese means forest and Fang means nature so we feel like we’re honoring her Chinese name.

I was struggling with finding the meaning of Ran and my friend Erin, who lead us to Fang Ran, learned that Ran is a Japanese girl name. The meaning of the name is `Lily, Purity’. I later realized that Erin’s daughter from Xuzhou whose picture has been on my mantle since Lily’s first birthday and who is also pictured with Fang Ran in several pictures also has been given the middle name Lin.

So many Red Thread connections….. this is meant to be. It’s official. We’ll be calling our 2nd Xuzhou daughter Anna Lin.