Pride of place Parents name children after ancient lands

Every summer when Tony Paul was a child in Kwajalein, an atoll in the Pacific nation of the Marshall Islands, his parents sent him and his siblings to spend time with their uncle on a remote chain of islands their ancestors once called home.

- Pete McKenzie

During the day, they darted across shrub-covered dunes and waded through turquoise waters. During the evening, they spearfished in the lagoon or hunted coconut crabs. And every night, before they went to bed, their uncle pulled out a battered guitar and sang old Marshallese pop songs. "They were the best times of being a kid," said Paul. "It was a chance for us to learn a lot of Marshallese ways."

Paul later moved to Majuro, the Marshall Islands' capital. It became difficult to visit the islands of his childhood. When he met Ellen Milne, who would later become his wife, they discovered that she too could trace her family's lineage to islands near there.