When I was growing up, there were multiple kids named Christopher, Michael and Jennifer.
There were so many kids with the same name that it wasn't unusual to have a a Chris S., a Chris M., a Mike F., a Michael J., a Jennifer B., and a Jennifer F. in the same class. More recently, the popular names have been Emma, Emily and Jacob.
All solid names, in my opinion. They're indeed "classic" names here in Canada.
Tenzin is a classic name in Tibet. And it's the name of many kids born in Tibet who attend the public school in my neighbourhood, a wonderfully diverse part of Toronto.
There are so many Tenzins that -- like their counterparts named Chris, Mike and Jen -- they, too, also have the initial of their surnames tacked onto their first-name.
It's amazing that half the people in Toronto are now foreign-born, according to the 2006 Canadian census figures released yesterday. And in Markham, the trend is even stronger as 56.5 people are foreign-born.
The world is becoming a wonderfully smaller place.
The next step in embracing this diversity is to ensure the families of all the Tenzins in Toronto -- and all others who are foreign-born -- are given opportunity to succeed in Canada.
