One fun but crucial part about parenting is giving your newborn a name. Many parents spend ages picking out the perfect one — understandable since their kid will be stuck with it for life.
Monica Millington, an American woman who is based in Singapore, recently announced that she is pregnant and now on the hunt for baby names.
So, she decided to share some Singapore-inspired ones with her TikTok viewers on July 30.
Guess which ones made Millington’s list?
@monicamillington Let me know ur pick in the comments #babynameideas #singaporetiktok #sglife #tiktoksg #singlish #babynames #pregnancytok #newmomlife #expatsg #expatlife #singaporelife #americanabroad #multiculturalkid #multiculturalfamily ♬ original sound – Monica from The Apprentice
The first one was Kaya, inspired by the bread spread made from coconut milk, eggs and sugar.
“Kaya would be the cutest little baby girl’s name,” the mum-to-be gushed, adding that it was “just delicious”. How apt.
Another food-inspired name that Millington thought would work was Laksa, a spicy noodle dish that Singaporeans love.
“It’s like very foxy, very mysterious, very chic. This girl will be like a “bad b****”, she explained.
Millington also said that the name Marina — from the iconic Marina Bay Sands — would be ideal for a girl too.
“It is nautical, it is relevant, it is chic, it is a little bit pretentious, just like me,” she said.
One more girl name she had on the list was Clementi, inspired by the residential town in the west.
It sounded like the British name Clementine, but “a bit more sassy” and “a bit more local”, she shared.
Moving on to boy names, one of her top picks is Fullerton, just like the luxury hotel chain in Singapore.
“Fullerton Millington? I mean, this guy is already the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of some bank somewhere,” the mum-to-be said as she tried saying the name out loud.
“He exclusively wears Ralph Lauren, hangs out at Robertson Quay on the weekend with the guys and he definitely has a Golden Retriever.”
Another boy name she suggested was Boon, inspired by Boon Lay MRT station.
Calling it a “Texan-Singaporean hybrid”, “super country” and a “strong man’s name”, Millington, who hails from Texas, clarified that it was “not Boon Lay, just Boon”. It was even the name of her brother’s dog, she added.
Finally, the last name on her list was Sian, after the Singlish expression usually used to describe tiredness, boredom or something that’s bothersome.
Millington said she pronounces it similarly to the name Sean, but if you wanted a more feminine variation, you could read it as how it is pronounced in Singlish.
“Sian is quirky, unlike the definition of the Singlish term, he is not boring, he’s very interesting, very well-read,” she elaborated, adding that he would also enjoy wearing tweed jackets on a regular basis.
As of the time of writing, the video has garnered over 122,100 views and 450 comments.
Unsurprisingly, netizens were pretty tickled by Millington’s baby name choices and flocked to the comments section to share their thoughts.
Quite a number of them were actually a fan of the name options.
PHOTO: TikTok/MonicaMillington
Others even chipped in with their own suggestions, including our very own Changi Airport.
PHOTO: TikTok/MonicaMillington
However, there were some people who weren’t very amused by Millington and said that she “shouldn’t name people.”
PHOTO: TikTok/MonicaMillington
This isn’t the first time a Caucasian has made waves for being inspired by Singapore culture.
Last year, one woman became an internet sensation for spewing Singlish just like our local hawker aunties.
In a TikTok video, she revealed that her Singlish was so fluent because she moved here when she was six years old and had “eventually adapted”.
This article was first published on AsiaOne and republished on theAsianparent with permission.