THE NAMESAKE

"Ashoke" means "without sorrow". Ashoke is a man of persistence and sheer will. He recovered from that horrible accident. He didn't get any mental issue or nightmare followed by that accident; rather, he came through and started a new life. Though his past experience is indeed appalling, there's no trace proving that he bothers because of it. " 'Not at all,' his father says eventually, one hand going to his ribs, a habitual gesture that has baffled Gogol until now, 'You remind me of everything that followed.' '' (124)

For Ashima, the situation turns to be weird. ''Ashima'' means ''boundless" or ''limitless''. Ashima, however, is kind of limited by the American culture. She is absolutely not "limitless'', and she is more willing to get closer to the Bengali culture rather than the American culture. Base on her reaction of preparing two different type of party, it's obvious that she is limited by the American culture and she feels more comfortable preparing for the Bengali party. 

''All this is less stressful to her than the task of feeding a handful of American children, half of whom always claim they are allergic to milk, all of whom refuse to eat the crusts of their bread.'' (72)

"Nikhil'' means ''wholesome'', ''youthful'', and ''strong''. In the chapter 4, Gogol becomes brave enough to accept his American identity and kiss a girl, which creates another personality ''Nikihil''. Nikhil is youthful, vivid, and strong enough to give up his old identity and embrace his American personality. "But he doesn't tell them that it hadn't been Gogol who'd kissed Kim. That Gogol had had nothing to do with it.'' (96)

''Sonali'' is the variant of ''Sonal'', which means ''strange'' and ''nerdy''. I have not seen the correlation between the meaning of her name and her personality yet. She is not nerdy or strange. She is just raised to be an ''true American'' (63).

Chinese names can be classified to two types: single-word form and double-word form. For example, my name is a double-word form, which means ''Hong'' and ''Rui'' are separated and each of them has its own meaning. ''Hong'' means ''benevolent'' and ''merciful'', and ''Rui'' means ''wise'' and ''knowledgeable''.

My father's name is Zhigang. ''Zhi'' means ''strong will'' or ''ambition''. ''Gang'' means ''persistent''. My father is a man who never gives up what he does. He was ambitious when he was young and has always been fighting for his goal.

My mom's name Sailan literally means "as orchid'', for ''Sai'' means ''similar to'' or ''like'' and ''Lan'' means orchid. This kind of combo is used to praise a woman for her beauty in ancient times.