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The meaning behind my new middle name

Today, I officially changed my name from “Annie Wang” to “Annie Chandler Wang” :) At right is the court document declaring my new legal name!

Why the name Chandler?

I felt that the opportunity of giving myself a name was of once-in-a-lifetime significance. So I’ve been looking very carefully for names that would capture my personal aspirations and embody the truly important aspects of my identity:

Faith (especially significant now that I’m an adult and my faith, like my new name, is more than something conferred at birth — in contrast to my baptism in my youth and my given name at birth)
Excellence and Light (my life motto/favorite word/previous email address is “arete” — a Greek word for “virtue and excellence.” also, my favorite symbol is the star — a shining beacon among darkness. I was initially drawn to celestial-related names like “Celeste” and “Stella”…but then we named our new puppy Stella, so that didn’t seem appropriate anymore)
Art and appreciation for beauty (my calling, passion, work)

I started doing searches for names that meant “artist” or “maker” to capture my identity as an artist and my aspiration toward excellence. Unfortunately, the same result kept coming up: “Fabrizio” meaning “artisan.” No way was I going to call myself Annie Fabrizio Wang.

Luckily, I found one website that generated this great list of names that incorporate the “maker” meaning. Do you see the clutch-ness that is the name Chandler? In a sea of male names, this one was happily unisex. (I would like to take this opportunity to debunk the myth that I named myself after that Friends guy. I don’t even watch Friends, thank you very much.)

When I saw that Chandler meant “candle maker” I knew this was the one! It pretty much captured everything that I wanted in a name. The theme of candlelight throughout the scriptures as a metaphor for goodness, truth, and excellence, as well as light’s central role in art, made “Chandler” an absolutely perfect name I could aspire to. I definitely still have miles to go in living up to this great name!