Why Gigi?

Ginger Nixon Needham is the name we've given our wild goose. How did we choose it? Like Cleo, our first daughter's name, Ginger is a popular name for cats. We really like the idea of giving the mistaken impression that we have a couple of cats. We do, of course, have a cat--a voluptuous and temperamental tabby named Jezebel. So, when you think of our girls, think three cat names, but just one cat (who will actually be residing in Park City, Utah, while we're in France).

Why Nixon? There is logic to that notorious name, too. It is to honor Gigi’'s late maternal great-grandparents, Rulon and Helen Nixon, whom Amy really admires. Ginger is also a name in the Shulthess family line. Cleo Schulthess Needham was named for her paternal great-grandmother, Cleo Christensen Smith of North Logan, Utah, and, of course, given her Gramps Schulthess's family name.

It is common for adopted girls from China to be given names referencing their birth culture (the town or region where they'’re from as middle name is common). However, we'’ve decided that, because we’re going to raise Gigi as an American and citizen of the world, as well as a member of the Needham and Schulthess families, she should have a name that reflects her adoptive culture and heritage. However, should she choose to also identify herself with the culture into which she was born, we will certainly encourage it.

Depending on whether you ask me or Amy, there are other meanings to Gigi's name. Ginger is, of course, a perennial plant whose roots are used to spice up food across southeast Asia--and everywhere else you find Asian cuisine. So, you could say that we foresee Ginger spicing up our family life and, we hope, others’'.

Although the presidency of Richard Nixon was marked by scandal, among his accomplishments was a daring and ultimately successful effort to re-establish normal relations with then "“Red China."” As many now survey the ever-strengthening economic and political ties between the US and China--and as we consider the life of this girl who will be crossing that cultural divide--some credit for setting it all in motion should go to the 37th US President.