China Orphans Will No Longer Be Named ‘Party’ Or ‘State’

Orphans in China have long been dealt a bad hand when it comes to their surnames with workers giving them the names “state” or “party.” When those children grow old enough to leave the orphanage without an adoption they are then left feeling marginalized because of their last name.

Now Chinese officials have revealed to MSNBC that they will no longer use generic names, specifically “state” and “party” when choosing a last name for the countries orphaned children.

The announcement comes only a short period of time after a state child work told a local newspaper:

“We don’t want children who grow up in orphanages to carry labels that imply they are different from those who have parents.”

Instead of state chosen names that marginalize those children state workers are now being asked to pick from a list that contains the 100 most typical Chinese surnames.

In speaking about the drastic change in policy a Chinese NGO worker said of the countries tens of thousands of orphans:

This move shows the government is paying more attention to these children’s psychological needs, which helps their development.”

If you’re curious to know which names will be selected from the countries top 100 the website Asia-Home.com runs through the entire list of top 100 surnames.

Do you think stopping the use of “State” and “Party” names is a good move by Chinese officials.