Finding that perfect name for a baby, searching for an appropriate meaning or an aesthetically pleasing sound sometimes can be quite difficult. And when there are two quite distinct names in different languages to choose...

We were quite lucky to even have a name selected before our little one's arrival 18 days early, or perhaps he'd been listening carefully to our discussion, awaiting our decision before beginning his journey into our world. We'd bounced names off him, asking him to kick when hearing one he liked, but he offered no assistance. After two iterations, we finally settled on Matias Carl. And three hours later, in the middle of the night, Xi's water broke.

mati in Sanskrit means intelligence, determination, understanding
as in Sanskrit represents an existential verb.

Friends have made us aware of some interesting figures
in history and fiction who share this name (no pressure on him now!):

Hunyadi Mátyás, aka Matthias Corvinus or Matthias the Just, by all accounts a Renaissance man, was the most beloved king in Hungary's history, reigning in the latter half of the fifteenth century.

Matías, the protagonist of an Argentinian comic strip created in 1993, Yo, Matías (I, Matias), is described as a likeable, adorable, ingenuous boy.

Matias is also a Slavic & Scandinavian variant of Matthew...

Number Two!
As of May 2007, Matias reached this plateau for boys' names in Chile & Finland

Carl Olson was the name of my maternal grandfather, 'Pops',
who at 88 passed away just before my graduation from
high school. This may have been the easiest of all these names
to choose...

With additional considerations related to the lunar date and time of our little one's birth, it took us a bit longer to come up with the Chinese name. Following the philosophy of the five elements (wood 木, fire 火, earth 土, metal 金, water 水), we discovered that he has an abundance of earth 土, but lacks wood 木, so any characters had to compensate for this if his future were to be bright. The name we chose didn't register a perfect score of 100 on this website (note: in Chinese), only a mere 98.5, but matched our criteria for meaning and sound...

彦 yàn is 'a person of virtue and ability' 才德出众的人;贤才;俊才

from classical Chinese texts:
产,美士有彣也。――《说文》
美士为彦。――《尔雅》
人之彦圣。――《礼记·大学》
彼其之子,邦之彦兮。――《诗·郑风·羔裘》

the compound 彦士 yànshì means 'excellent scholar' 有才学的人;才士

quite simply, 龙 lóng means 'dragon'. however, it was the secondary meanings, the graceful movements of a Chinese dragon, as well as the aesthetics of the sound that drew us to this character:

'outstanding person' 喻不凡之士,豪杰之士

'vigorous' 喻文章,书法的雄健华丽

the expression 龙腾虎跃 lóngténg hǔyuè (dragons rising and tigers leaping) suggests 'a scene of bustling activity' 如蛟龙飞腾,猛虎跳跃。形容威武雄壮

from classical Chinese texts:
想见项羽之暗鸣,高帝之漫骂,龙腾虎跃,千军万马,大弓长戟,交集而齐呼。――宋·马存《赠盖邪式序》