It turned out too difficult for us to come up with a boy's name which sounds understandable both in Bulgaria and Hungary. Every time we started thinking of possible names we were stuck with either names that sound too Hungarian to my ear, or too Slavic - to put it diplomatically - for Emese. A theory emerged in my mind, that Hungarians have been much more keen to translate all male names into their language than they were with female ones. I remember when searching for a name for our daughter we had a long list of names which sounded international enough to satisfy both language communities - of which we chose the finest of course But with the son things looked different: Stefan is Istvan, Dimitur is Demetor (and this is a name for a bear, Emese judged!); Ilia is Illes, Nikolay is Miklos, and so on and so forth, making it impossible for a person to have a name spelled out the same way in a Bulgarian and a Hungarian passport, for instance. There was some other rules we were trying to keep, like: no family members' names, at least not on Emese's side - and that was Emese's own wish, mind you! No religious names, I demanded. And no names that sound ridiculous or fully unknown in one of the two languages. The last rule killed options like: Krum (sounds too much like 'krumpli', that is potatoes in Hungarian), Bela (a fashionable girl's name in Bulgaria), or Gyula (sounds too close to 'dyula' that is a quince in Bulgarian). Levente was an chance to reinforce the Hungarian - Bulgarian closeness, but apart from the meaning (a handsome man), I had never heard anyone called like this back home. And it sounded more like a Greek word anyway. One of the legendary Magyar brothers who are said to have started the Hungarian offspring after kidnapping to Bulgarian pricesses was called Hunor - which might have been a hit among certain Bulgarians, including my father, who are eager to dig into the glorious pre-European times of teh proto-Bulgarians. But there already is a Hunor in Horgos, and he happens to be Emese's godson.
Things got so bad, that when the baby was already in Emese's hands and Dr Smile asked the shivering us: "So what is the name?", we both said "We don't know!". And the fact that he was born 2 weeks earlier is no excuse here.
So, how did we come up with a name that violates almost all the rules mentioned earlier? To behgin with, Ivan has a Hungarian version, and a pretty popular one: Janos. I am tempted to include a relevant explanation by my colleague, Dr. Janos Zlinsky, which he wrote after hearing our name choice: "In Hungary, St John the Baptist, the “Prodromos” is called St Ivan. His birthday is celebrated half a year before the birthday of Christ, that is, on the 24th of June". In the name of truth, Emese had also once muttered that Ivan could possibly be in Hungarian without being a Janos, but the fact is: Slavic name, and a religious name as well. Also, a family name - as this is how my grandfather is called, who just turned 84 about a week earlier. At least we both hope Ivan would not sound funny or ridiculous anywhere, but that time will show.
There is a tiny side story. Two months ago or so my mom was visiting and entertaining Maia with some Bulgarian children songs book, singing for her all the songs in a row. Out of all, Maia fell for the song about Ivan Shishman (the small boy in the middle, pictured left) - the last Bulgarian tsar, who is famous for the fact that during his reign the country fell to the Ottomans in 1393. The song is nice though, kind of melodic folk tune, in which the protagonist witnesses and describes in singing the last march of the Bulgarian army: "Since the dawn has broken, my dear old mother, an army has been walking. Horse by the horse, my dear old mother, hero by the hero. Their swords, my dear old mother, shining like the sun. Their spears, my dear old mother, like a thick forest. Their leader, my dear old mother, tsar Ivan Shishman himself." Maia was so fascinated by the song that she kept asking me to sing it long after her grandma left, and is going to sleep with it every evening.
Before I am accused of smuggling in a Bulgarian history character, I would like to point out that if I were to chose, Shishman would certainly not be my on my Top 10 list of Bulgarian rulers. Another Ivan is much nicer in my view - Ivan (or Ioan) Assen II, the Tsar of Bulgarians and the Wallachians, who had very few wars during his pretty long and successful rule (1218 - 1241). Instead he was the master of political marriages, and apparently, the master of making children. He alone married the daughter of Andras II, the King of the Magyars. One more remarkable thing about Ivan-Assen II: he started the building of Bulgaria's marine, which few other rulers of this country have had the vision and chances to do.
History aside, the truth is Ivan is my choice of a name mostly because of John Lennon - the person whose songs I have sung the most. And who is the true champion of making love and not war. Rest in peace, John, and long live Ivan.