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riental’s newest dragon is preparing to make its second Chinese New Year run on January 23rd, at 4p on Hodges Street. In the meantime, an effort to name the dragon is underway.

The dragon in last February’s Chinese New Year parade.

The dragon made its public debut last February at Oriental’s first Chinese New Year celebration and since then, the 43-foot long dragon has turned up at other occasions — a wedding, a dragon boat race, a December 31 New Years gathering.

Dancing above the crowds, the dragon has brought a sense of magic, but despite all that.. we haven’t quite known what to call it.

It arrived here last January, so calling it the “New Dragon” worked for only so long. Is it the Chinese Dragon? The Snake Dragon? The Orange-Red Crayola Dragon? Or should we call it, “The Made In China Dragon” (and hope that somehow it distinguishes itself from so many other consumer goods?)

The dragon and Charlie Overcash, the Oriental resident who arranged to bring it here from China last year. In background is the box it emerged from. (Charlie spearheaded the community drive for this dragon after the secret society behind Oriental’s other dragon declined to let that dragon out for one of the New Years Eve runs.)

Wendy Osserman, the choreographer who’s worked with the crews who bring the dragon to life during occasions such as the Chinese New Year, says this dragon needs a name. First step would be to get some ideas and that’s where you come in. Send your suggested name to info@towndock.net. We’ll share them as they come in at TownDock. A group of judges will decide.

So, let your imagination run.. like a dragon run. (Lots of weaving in and out, that means.) If you want to supplement that with a back-story, all the better. As for gender-specific naming, it’s been noted that dragons do lay eggs, so we might make a presumption here that this is a female, though one can be broadminded about gender identification if your name needs that.

Perhaps the dragon’s proud right profile will inspire a name…

Here are the suggestions so far:

Neusie – in a nod to Nessie of the Loch

Scarlett — we are in the south and s/he is very red

Pup — this is Dog Town after all, but I also like that it sounds similar to another famous dragon

Puff — the aforementioned famous dragon has a windy name for this sailing town

Thanks,

Chris Scot.

A few simple ones come to mind immediately:

Charlie (for obvious reasons)

Puff (for sentimental reasons)

Elliot (Pete’s dragon)

Smaug (from The Hobbit)

Draco or Drago (celestial)

Arthur (Pendragon), could use nickname “Artie” to show our artist connection

Norbert (Hagrid’s pet dragon in Harry Potter)

On the other hand, a quick Google search results in a lot of more obscure ones:

#26 male name, LONGWEI, Chinese meaning “dragon greatness”, and how about #28 on the female list, MELINDA, meaning “sweet serpent”

LUNG, the Chinese word for dragon

- Gordon Pickett

In sticking to the Oriental name and taking into consideration the origin of the Dragon, how about some Far East connection? Some suggestions might be:

· Tai-Pan
· Mai-Tai
· Lang-Syne

B. Ronald Hall

O.K., I’ll offer the Mandarin words for “Snake Dragon” which are also descriptive of the gender* and length of our newest mascot: “She Long” . . . Look it up!

(*Although I’d argue the gender thing, as a male is usually required to produce a fertilized egg, and we’ve never see this one actually lay one. )

Or we could try “Red Beard” to recognize the origin (Red China) and the fact that a beard of that color appears on its (his?) chin; and as akin to Blackbeard who once haunted these parts.

- Bill Sage

Falkor – the Luck Dragon from Neverending Story

- Lori Peele

I think it should be the ‘Ice Chaser Dragon’ as we had such a balmy evening for its premier!

- Mary Cancel

How about “Yangtze”? It’s the name of a major Chinese river, an Asian sister to the mighty Neuse, but even better, it means “child of the ocean.”

Frances Connelly

Why not “Hong Suh” ( more or less the Chinese word for red)

- Lynn DeChesser

Xīwàng (Pronounced shee-whaa) the Chinese Dragon. This means the dragon’s name would be “Hope”… perfect for a coming new year.

- The Watts Family

Years ago there was a TV show called Charlie’s Angels – so….. How about Charlie’s Dragon?

- Bill Manger

Charlie, which was suggested by a couple people, would be a great Dragon name!

Here are two versions of the name in Chinese:

Charlie – 查理 (Chálǐ)

Charlie – 查利 (Chá lì)

—Kathy Long

The Flaming Monster?

- Diana Borja, Vandermere Creek, NC and St Louis, MO

Hi guys,

I suggest the name Yin Yang.

“Yin yang are not opposing forces (dualities), but complementary opposites that interact within a greater whole, as part of a dynamic system.”

The concept of yin yang speaks to me about the nature of this town. We may disagree, but in the end our “opposite views” interact for a great whole that makes Oriental the unique, diverse, quirky, loving place it is.

- Kathy Kellam

“Wu-wei “, which literally means “effortless action.” It’s a Taoist concept for letting things happen rather than making them happen.

- Ken Scales

Name for dragon?

ORRI

Short, for sign painting, Simple of spelling, And a sure identity with the town’s name.

Best regards to you folks in Oriental. You keep doing such a good thing with TownDock.
Thanks.

- Bob Clyburn

Hi.

My husband and I are property owners out @ Whittaker Point. We are selling our house in MD and intend to move on down to Oriental to start building this year. That being said…. I wanted to submit a name for the Oriental Dragon.

I looked briefly on Google and found that “Dongfang” translates to “Oriental.” Thought that would be a perfect name for our dragon. Happy Chinese New Year to allJ Hope everyone gets a good prediction in their fortune cookie, which incidentally are easy to make!

- Ed and Elin Kujat

Even though I have been an Oriental resident for a short time, I know that many people in town thought very highly of Larry Walker who passed away last year. My suggestion is to name the dragon “Walker” to honor the memory of Captain Larry Walker.

- Susan T. Rohrman

It is this humble servants opinion that both dragons should be named. I once again, most humbly, summit the following names: Kon and Tiki ( Kon-Tiki was the raft used by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in his 1947 expedition across the Pacific Ocean from South America ).

- Ken Laser

As a proud property owner in Oriental ( we have the lot, now we need to build the house), I sense the need for two names as there are now TWO dragons in the city. As there are already dragon eggs to be found about the area, I am assuming there has been some, shall I say delicate negotiations between dragons already.

I purpose dragon one to be “Ori” the long term male dragon and “Ental” his obvious visiting consort that has now made her residence permanent.

Looking forward to being a full time residence myself,

- Iris Nance Columbia, SC

Re: naming the dragon:

The Chinese name for dragon is pronounced “lóng” in Mandarin Chinese or “lùhng” in Cantonese. And an ancient Chinese sailing vessel is called a junk, and small Chinese boats are still called junks.

So, how about luhng junk, or dragon boat?

Or, you may want to turn it around and call it Junk Lou-ung, Boat Dragon. That probably makes more sense.

- Carl and Donna Crotthers Pecan Grove Marina

My suggestion for our new years dragon is “South Pacific Lady”

- Tashelle Jamieson

A word on pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese – the ‘o’ sound in the Chinese word for dragon, written ‘long’ in the most popular romanization system, sounds like the ‘o’ sound in the word ‘loofah.’ Same with the word for ‘red,’ hong. Red dragon would sound like ‘hoong loong.

“Great dragon” would be “wei (way) long.”

- Pauline Sterin

I vote for “Puff,” a “magic dragon” who “lived by the sea,” “frolicked” (and probably gamboled & capered, too!)—plus David always talks about that “puff” that’s coming across the Neuse as he reads the wind on the water when sailing. It’s a nice simple name, too!

Thanks,

— Jean White

How about “Neusy Dragon”?

- Earl Evens

Starting with ‘Oriental dragon’ and knowing that the dragon travels and is an ambassador for the town I chose:

Oriendra for a female name
Oriendron for a male name

- Barbara McGovern
Oriental, NC

Just to chime in on the name for the new dragon: How about ChaWen. Named for Charlie who brought us the dragon and Wendy who brought it to life and taught it to dance.

- Beth Hage (how I miss living in Oriental.)

Puff is great as a name. But let’s name both, shall we?

- Sandy Evens

Charlie. It is the acronym for the Chinese phrase: Chow Hang Aou Rung Lie Ipo Exu – meaning Protector of the Harbor and Victor of Ill Winds

- Rich Lambert

Vela — Latin for the sails of a ship, is a constellation in the southern sky.

Oriental is known as the sailing capital of NC so it would be a fitting name (besides it sounds friendly and the people of oriental are just that.)

Forgive me if it’s already posted! Thanks.

- Kathy Stultz

Don’t know if it’s too late…but, I’d like to put my suggestion in the hat for a name of Oriental’s new dragon:

“Lucky”.

The Dragon symbolizes luck in the Asian culture. Luck is a basic concept of Chinese/Asian culture that is important to observe. (Hence, feng shui.) Doing a dragon dance at Chinese New Year is part of the ritual to ward off evil spirits and bring good luck.

- Evie Chang Henderson

(“Fu,” Evie says, is a way to say “good fortune.”)

Segue; Great name for the Dragon.

Smooth transition from the old to the new? (Dragon and Life)
Smooth transition from work to retirement?
Smooth transition from one place of residence to paradise called Oriental.
Smooth transition up or down the ICW to ORIENTAL

(Segue defined:
1. to continue at once with the next musical section or composition (often used as a musical direction).
2. to perform in the manner of the preceding section (used as a musical direction).
3. to make a transition from one thing to another smoothly and without interruption: The conversation segued from travel anecdotes to food.)

- Michelle Fodrey

How about Halley…..as in Halitosis. She has to have a little odor problem !

- Jeff Borthen.

Towndock staff,

What about the name “Mazu” which is the Chinese goddess of the sea that protects fishermen and sailors?

- Lynn Mattea

Dragonara sounds elegant, pretty.

Dong Fang is a loose translation of “oriental,” or “the east.”

- Judith Lynch

Flame

- Dottie Osmun

Posted Friday January 6, 2012 by Melinda Penkava