What does CHA CHA TEA mean?

One frequently asked question from my customers is this. What does CHA CHA TEA mean?

Well, the first CHA means tea in Japanese, the second CHA means tea in Chinese and TEA is tea in English. “I sell tea!” is my short answer. And I continue. Do you want to know the second meaning? 

When I became a mother, I wanted my children to call me Oka-san, which means mother in Japanese. Many Japanese children call their mom, “mama” though. My cousins call their mom “mama,” my friends call their mom “mama” and my friends' children call my female friends “mama” as well. 

However, I don't know exactly why, but I just didn’t feel right being called mama. I always call my mom “Oka-san.” So I called myself Oka-san to my daughters. Come to Oka-san, Give it to Oka-san, etc… 

But Oka-san is a mouthful for small children when they are just starting to speak. So my first daughter, Sakura started to call me Cha-cha instead, and my mother (her grandma, Oba-chan in Japanese) Ba-cha. She called her dad, Da-da. And the second daughter, Takami arrived and she followed her big sister.

When I was considering my business name, the girls were only two & a half years old and one year old. They were still calling me Cha-cha then.

It was almost like deciding on my third child’s name. I gave it a lot of thought and spent time researching. I came up with this name, “CHA CHA TEA” and found that no business had that name. Isn’t it great? I like it very much. 

Eventually, both my daughters outgrew the Cha-cha stage and they call me Oka-san now. As you see, the store name remains as is.       

Does your name have any meanings? Or do you know the story behind your name? Share with me!