Photo by Beth Shea Palmer in Taoyuan, Taiwan

Andy is the charming boy deliberately commandeering this photo to draw attention, albeit negative, from his smart and sassy female classmates. To his right is Mandy, his arch-nemesis, perhaps only for the reason their names differ by one letter. To Mandy’s right is Fiona, who happened to arrive donning a pen-made mustache above her lip. I didn’t ask. In the back row, Selina, wearing red, flashes the double peace signs close to her face, the go-to pose all Taiwanese children seem to know from birth. Then moving to the left, it’s the rest of the adorable crew: Alice, Winnie and Ella.

I can tell you pretty confidently that Andy, Mandy, and Alice received their names from help of a kind school secretary or English-literate parent, chosen from a standard list handed out on their first day of English class. Fiona is named after Fiona from Shrek and Winnie after Winnie the Pooh and Ella after some cartoon or movie heroine—this I can just as confidently assure you.

Children—and adults who come into the two-name game later in life—obtain their English identity in one of four ways in Taiwan:

Least entertaining: The name is selected from the standard name list of all the good Irish Marys, Johns, Billys, Brandons and Kathys.

Always Cute: The name is plucked from a favorite fictional character; I’ve encountered an Aragorn, Engine (like the little one that could), and Fruit-bear (I can only guess he - yes HE - likes those gummy snacks?)

Room for weird: The name is a certain English word they have an affinity for. For example, I have multiple girls named Candy, Bunny, Kitty, Cherry—which is easy to see because, what’s a child’s favorite thing? Candy! After that? Cherries and bunnies and kitties!!! But as a Westerner, who has only encountered those names when reading about GOP rendezvous, its strange at first.

Random obscurity: A new English name is provided by the English teacher, as a result of having multiple children with the same name in one class. I have witnessed this amount to a christening of a Dragon, Money, Rain, Knight and King.