Mayumi

In Filipino, it means gentle marahan, mahinay, refined or polite mahinhin, mabini, magalang, maginoo, kindly or friendly mabait, magiliw and soft and low marahan, malumay (tagalog-dictionary.com). In Japanese, the name means true bow (archery) (20000-NAMES.com).

I named my youngest daughter Mayumi because I just love the sound of it. People were asking why Mayumi of all names? Why not Nicole or Sandy or Michelle? Told them, I wanted my baby to be different; to have a not so ordinary name that people could remember easily. And besides, I wanted the name to be in Tagalog for a change. So Mayumi it is. During vaccinations, check-ups, and even in malls, people mistook her for a Japanese. They say its because of the name, for some because of her looks.

Maybe they have a point. It could be because of her name. So I looked it up in the dictionary, searched for it in the internet. Indeed it is a Japanese name. Lots of popular and prominent Japanese individuals named Mayumi. Never thought it that way. Her looks? Well she's very fair, very very pretty and with a pair of little eyes that could melt your heart away.

They say names identify the personality of a person or an individual. It's sort of a precursor of things to come; as in the case of Mayumi, who in the truest Tagalog sense of the word is really mayumi... soft, gentle, fragile and beautiful. Forget about being or looking Japanese. It's the Tagalog term I was referring to when I named her.