home > culture > vietnamese names > name poem

My Name That Makes Me, Me

By Paul Thuyen Sangree

Poem about the importance of all the parts of his name, by a young Vietnamese adoptee poet.

My name has always been there,
It’s never ever left me.

My first name comes first,
Everything that’s mine.
From papers to documents
It’s always Paul
Paul comes from my Uncle Paul,
We have similar likes. (We love sports.)

My middle name is in many things,
It comes from Vietnam.
It appears on my passports, birth certificates, medical forms and bills.
I love my middle name,
It is Thuyen.

The name that ends my name,
Has been there for generations.
It started somewhere in Europe,
And came across the sea,
And the name is Sangree

That’s my name,
It’s all three are there.

I hope you liked this thing I shared.

Our son Paul wrote this poem when he was in second grade. He has always been an athlete and loves soccer, baseball, and basketball. His teachers have encouaged his writing and he has had one poem and one essay published in a book. Paul was adopted into our family from Vietnam.