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'Unwanted' Indian Girls Receive a New Name

In October, 2011, the Associated Press ran a deeply moving story about a name-changing ceremony for girls in Mumbai, India. At birth the 285 girls had been named Nakusa or Nakushi, which means Unwanted in the primary Indian language of Hindi. The name Unwanted is widely given to girls across India where families often value sons much more than daughters. As a result, female babies have been aborted or neglected at an alarming rate.

But the renaming ceremony was an attempt to give the girls a new identity. The article reported, "The 285 girls—wearing their best outfits with barrettes, braids and bows in their hair—lined up to receive certificates with their new names along with small flower bouquets." Some of the girls chose new names that mean prosperous, beautiful, good, or even "very tough." One girl who had been named Nakusa by her grandfather who was disappointed in her birth said, "Now in school, my classmates and friends will be calling me by this new name, and that makes me very happy."

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