I was born Amiel Daniels Thompson. Amiel is Hebrew for friend of God. My family is not Jewish, rather New Age Catholic and Buddhist UU. My British beatnik mom found the name in a book. I was destined to be a writer! Hard to pronounce Amiel- the poor slobs in elementary school were pathetic struggling with it- gaymeal, oatmeal, freemeal. Out of kindness I changed it to Dan! It could have been worse- dad wanted to call me Elijah, Lij for short! (He may have won the argument if he had said Eli.)
My Sanskrit name, given to me by a seminary student named Vima who lived with me in Qmbaya Co-op in Chicago, is Asoka meaning without sorrow.
My Chinese name- two of the few characters I can write- Gao (from happy) Su (from Suzhou , where I lived near Shanghai) should not be confused with Tall Expressway or other possibilities for the tone challenged laowei like me!
It came from my African name which was given to me by my host family in the Sahara . I served in the Peace Corps in Mali . I was named for the pot bellied little boy in the family, the name whispered in my ear like in traditional baptism, although I did not shave my head. It is a Koranic name. Gaoussou may be invoked in imminent peril such as impending car crash. Scream that I am your host! The name should never be brought up in domestic disputes however.
I was born Amiel Daniels Thompson. Amiel is Hebrew for friend of God. My family is not Jewish, rather New Age Catholic and Buddhist UU. My British beatnik mom found the name in a book. I was destined to be a writer! Hard to pronounce Amiel- the poor slobs in elementary school were pathetic struggling with it- gaymeal, oatmeal, freemeal. Out of kindness I changed it to Dan! It could have been worse- dad wanted to call me Elijah, Lij for short! (He may have won the argument if he had said Eli.)
It came from my African name which was given to me by my host family in the Sahara . I served in the Peace Corps in Mali . I was named for the pot bellied little boy in the family, the name whispered in my ear like in traditional baptism, although I did not shave my head. It is a Koranic name. Gaoussou may be invoked in imminent peril such as impending car crash. Scream that I am your host! The name should never be brought up in domestic disputes however.