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f A114403 r USA . Goodlookingstrippedsingers #8 Goodlookingstrippedsingers 2search;There’s a big bunch of Chinese people who have this whimsically strange idea that Westerners have amazing problems in pronouncing Chinese names, and that the slightest off-intonation will render the Chinese name completely, totally, abso-effing-lutely unintelligible. Ergo, the need for an English/Western name.
I disagree that the Chinese feel a need to compensate with an English name because of foreigners’ difficulties with their names. No, I reckon the reason they choose to have English/Western names is because the Chinese (especially mainlanders) are mesmerised with anything foreign, plain and simple.
Have you ever noticed some of the garments Chinese wear that have English words on them? Talk about funny! Most are nonsensical and, more often than not, full of misspellings. The wearer is completely oblivious to this. Ask, and they have no clue about the writing, other than to think it’s cool to wear something with ‘English’ writing on it.
“Your Chinese name [...] is your Chinese name. Don’t take your Chinese name, put it into Pinyin, and call it your English name. Just say it’s your Chinese name. Many Chinese people misunderstand this, and think that as long as it’s in letters, it’s considered English.”
(T.)
Yeah, and this carries over to general communications, to the point that anything in Pinyin is seen as English. So you see all those oddball, incongruous Pinyin signs in China, and then they wonder why English speakers don’t understand those signs. Trust me, this is real and I’m not making it up. (I talk to people, you know, and I listen too.)
If we put the characters 你好 into Pinyin, we get “ni hao” so we can read it. It’s still Chinese. “Taramasalata” is Greek, not English. A language is not restricted to how it looks. Believe it or not, many people in mainland China can’t appreciate this. That itself is the real culture shock for those who visit China for the first time.
“My Chinese name is my Chinese name. Why would I repeat it in another name? Logically, if my name means ‘flower’ in Chinese, then in English my name might be Flower. Makes sense, right? Can’t stand it. I’d find that incredibly annoying. Really. Why put Chinese names in our English names? Why repeat names when you can be unique? Or create a different descriptive name to your taste, eh?”
(J.K.)
I am always puzzled as to why loads of Chinese especially in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, etc (but not so much in Malaysia and Singapore) use English names. Many cannot even speak English, yet want an English name.
And then there’s the bunch of overseas Chinese emigrés who think it’s offensive or racist or somehow less than true to your heritage if you don’t use your Chinese name — one reason I don’t live in the USA anymore!
Four points about Chinese names:
1. Duplication of Chinese given names is actually more common than most suppose. The top 100 Chinese surnames leads to even more commonality. Chan Kit-bing (陳潔冰) is a helluva common girl’s name among the Chinese: Jane Smith doesn’t even come close to commonness.
(I can always tell from certain names whether a person was born during or after the Cultural Revolution, when traditional two-character generational names often were dropped in favour of more revolutionary/patriotic names.)
2. Chinese personal names are not used as often or as informally as English personal names. Chinese people (especially children) are often addressed by a moniker that reflects their relationship to the speaker (‘young brother,’ ‘big sister’, ‘older cousin-brother,’ etc).
3. Chinese nicknames serve a very similar function as English/Western nicknames do, but in the manner as personal Christian names were used only between the closest of friends in the very formal times of Victorian England.
4. Also, the Chinese not invariably have pen names and the like (sort of like auxiliary nicknames) and will often change their Chinese names as they go through life.
The name is almost an alter ego, and I reckon this has to be the deciding factor on the selection of English/Western names by my Chinese friends. As an alter ego, the name chosen shouldn’t be burdened with a lot of social and cultural baggage. It’s often a fun and informal name (though it’s also their professional name as well for some). Email communication and the Internet are also good reasons for taking on an English/Western name.
Sorry for the long essay… just got thinking about people’s relationships with names and cultural differences.
* * *
Here is a general thought on why I think it makes practical sense for foreigners to adopt a Chinese name when they come to China but why the same is unnecessary for Chinese going abroad:
(a) Western names are usually in the 26 letters of the alphabet. In order to render them in an easily recognisable/readable form for Chinese (say, on a business card) it is practical (and necessary) to choose a Chinese name that is writeable in Chinese characters. The choice is then up to the individual whether to use a transliteration (one as close as you can get to your original name) or looking for one that also has a nice Chinese meaning.
(b) Since the Chinese language has Pinyin, any Chinese person going abroad already has a way of depicting their real name using the letters of the alphabet, so there is no practical need in most cases to come up with a completely different name.
In both cases, the fascination with a foreign-language name might be from learning the foreign language (Chinese or English or whatever), and that might lead to people choosing a name from that other language. And why not?
* * *
In naming, Hong Kong (and China to a lesser extent) is a lot like the USA — anything goes, a land of naming freedom and self-expression.
Other governments impose restrictions. In Germany, parents have to choose a name that clearly indicates the child’s sex and is not a surname. France and Brazil forbid names that might expose a child to mockery, like Sylvester Stallone and Sasha Czack’s child Sage Moonblood or Frank Zappa’s daughter Moon Unit Zappa (originally Moon Unit Two Zappa).
A big downside of a ‘creative’ name is the baggage that it may come with. People ascribe all kinds of personality traits to you that you just don’t have. One way or another, you (or your child) nearly always end up having to overcome some kind of stereotyping. Except for Miss Kinky Chik, perhaps.
On the other hand, you’d also get the impression from many teens (Asians and Westerners alike) that a regular name like Jane or William just doesn’t cut enough ice with them anymore in this day and age. They want something offbeat, even over the top, so they don’t become just another face in the crowd.
You know what? Get an education. Get a dictionary. Better still — get a life. Preferably off-line.
© The Naked Listener’s Weblog, 2011.
Images: ”Andy Conda” via FunnyNames.com | ”You were an accident” via Fortune Cookie Fail Blog | ”Artificial Chinese names” via Tattoo Design Gallery.