I've wanted to do a post all about her name before--I can't remember what I've said before about it but here is the explanation:
Semira was her given name and on some documents was spelled Samira, which we felt was the easier spelling and that most people would guess the spelling with an "a". Her name was given to her by her birth mother which is special to us and will be to Samira someday when she understands that. An older Ethiopian adoptee of whom we asked his opinion told us one time that he thought we should keep the name she was given because it will be the only thing she has left from her country. We took his opinion highly and respected his reasoning. Now that we've been home too we see no matter how much we try to teach her about her culture or expose her to it---it is nothing like growing up there. I can't say we would've kept it the same if it was something hard to say or totally bizarre to Americans that it would cause her problems her whole life but Samira is definitely not that. We felt it was a beautiful name (and have been told that a lot) and easy to say and spell. "Amina" is her birth mother's name and we always do a family name as our kids' middle name so it was fitting to honor her that way. I'm glad her name will be a way to share with her about her birth mom.
When we were travelling to Ethiopia, this was the name we had chosen for her since we'd had 11 months to call her something before travelling. What surprised us and momentarily threw us off was the strong opinion of Ethiopian nationals there that urged us to change her name. We thought it was a way to honor her country and birth mother and here they were passionately wanting us to change it. Her name is of Muslim background and that may have something to do with the distaste that we picked up. We pray God will redeem her name for His kingdom and maybe even use it for good among that group of people. If one day when she returns to Ethiopia and she does not want to associate with her Muslim Ethiopian name we figure she can introduce herself as her nickname, Sami. Around home she's called other names such as Sami, Mira, Sam, Samurai, Samsonite...
When we first knew her name one of the first things we looked up was what it meant. When we read it was "fulfilled". At a time when adoptions were closing in Ethiopia, this was comforting to read. We knew God's plan would be fulfilled in this girl being added to our family--and we are still learning all that He had planned for us in choosing her. "Fulfilled" is the African meaning but there is a Hebrew meaning "from Heaven". Samira is certainly our little dream fulfilled from (heaven) God. Spelled Samira some sites do list the meaning as "entertaining" or "pleasant company". If you were to see her in her most relaxed, silly state-this would make you smile like it does me. I often watch her around our family table each night and see the entertainer in her come out. She loves nothing more than to be the center of attention, especially getting laughs out of us. Amina is also of Muslim origin meaning "trustful, honest", I've even read "safe" some places. What a meaning to live up to! We hope we can foster all those qualities in her!
