Wouldn’t you rather think about what to name DC’s pumpkin-loving chonky panda prince instead of, like, anything else that’s currently in the news? You can take a sanity break and have some input into the panda cub’s name by voting on a page Smithsonian’s National Zoo set up to help decide how we’ll address the new bear in town.
The possible names, per the zoo, are:
Fu Zai (福仔) [fu-tzai]—prosperous boy
Xiao Qi ji (小奇迹) [shiau-chi-ji]—little miracle
Xing Fu (幸福) [shing-fu]—happy and prosperous
Zai Zai (仔仔) [tzai-tzai]—a traditional Chinese nickname for a boy
This is the third time the zoo has invited the public to help name a panda cub. It held contests in 2005 and 2013 for Tai Shan (aka Butterstick) and Bao Bao, respectively. Bei Bei was named in 2016 by the first ladies of the US and China.
The names “reflect the extraordinary circumstances under which this cub was born and celebrate the collaboration between colleagues who strive to conserve this species,” the zoo says in a statement. No write-ins allowed, sorry. You can vote once per day if you’re extremely motivated.
Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.
