My name is Yu’an, pronounced as [y˨˩˦ ʔan˥˩] (the first syllable has a contour tone,low rise and then fall, the second has a falling tone). Taken together with my family name Yang, the name means “aspen trees on the raining river shore.”

According to my father, the name comes from a poem by Liu Yong in Song Dynasty:

杨柳岸，晓风残月。

Loosely translate, the verse reads: “Over aspen and willow trees on the river shore, the breeze is gentle and the moon is waning.” My father switched out “willow” for “rain” because willow trees in Chinese culture are often associated with weakness, and he wants me to grow tall and strong like aspen trees in the rain.

Of course, all of this could be a post-hoc explanation that my father created to make himself look cultured (which would be very on brand for him). According to my mother, I got the name because she grew up next to the Yellow River, where there were a forest of tall aspen trees on the river bank to prevent the flooding of the Yellow River in June (the month that I was born).

Who’s to say which explanation is better?