What's up with Chinese people having English names

[Deleted]

Interesting article here.

[hwinpp]

I'm a bit fed up about it... But it's their choice I suppose.
Probably some take western names when they get baptised.
On facebook my sister has put together a family group. I registered under a fake name but let everybody know who I was.
I didn't recognise a couple of cousins who I haven't seen for a long time. Not their faces and not their names.
The other half of that side of the family are Indian. They have Indian first names but Christian surnames.

My siblings and I all have Muslim middle names though we grew up without any religion. Causes confusion sometimes...

[patricklondon]

There are many and varied attitudes to names around the world: in Hispanic countries, you keep both your mother's and your father's surnames, in Russia you always have a patronymic as part of your name, in Iceland you have no surname but only a patronymic (or I believe a matronymic if you are a woman?), in China/Chinese-influence societies (and in Hungary, and often, in official statements and listings, in France and Hispanic countries) your surname always comes first, in parts of South Asia you have only one name, in many countries there are lists of legally-approved names you have to use, and so on, and so on.

I used to work in student admissions and registration in an international university, and I've sweated blood over designing forms to cope with all this, believe me....

[Deleted]

Working for an airline, I have seen the names reversed so many times that it always makes me understand why it is so hard to be sure exactly who some of the people on the plane were, in case of a plane crash or something.

And in certain countries they do not even seem to know which is the first name and which is the last one. We have a Bengali employee with a 'weird' (to Western eyes) name, making it impossible to know which name comes first. When somebody asks him, he always says things like "it doesn't make any difference." In cases like that, you end up wishing sometimes that they would adopt nicknames like 'Steve.'

[Deleted]

The comments in the discussion after the main article are worth a read: "Wouldn't it just be easier to teach Texans how to read?"

[patricklondon]

On one occasion in my university career when we redesigned forms, we realised that, not only was "Christian name" inappropriate, but "surname" didn't seem to be understood either. So we tried "first name" and "family name". I leave it to you to guess the nationality of the student who told us his "family name" was Bud.

[Deleted]

Even "first name" and "last name" are not always understood (except perhaps by North Americans, but I am sure that even among them, there must be certain exceptions).

[hwinpp]

Isn't family name always understood?

[Deleted]

Well, it could be understood by some people as "what do your family members call you?" -- often something very different from your official name!

[Deleted]

I hardly ever use my offical name at all, (apart from when I have to). The one my parents gave me I mean. No one can ever pronounce it or remember it, so what's the point? And my last name is Irish, to confuse matters a bit more...

[tillystar]

When I was a kid the chinese family who ran the chip shop at the end of my road had young 3 children named William, Harry and Diana

[bixaorellana]

When you consider how stupid native English-speaking people can be about "regular" English names, it's not surprising that people with "non-standard" names change them to something less likely to be mangled.

My family name is not terribly common, but it's an English surname that's simple to pronounce. (it's not Higdon, but a similar name). I've been told, "but the d always comes before the g". My married name was equally straightforward, but I'd get "shouldn't that have two 't's?". And my first name is a regular, old-fashioned name with no variations, but I've had been asked, "can't that also be spelled ....?"

Then there's the phenomenon of someone you've barely met giving you a nickname: "I'll call you
_ _ _!" That's really out of line, but I'll bet it happens to many of those poor souls who have the temerity to be named something other than David or Mary. No wonder they decide to face the world with a plain-vanilla moniker they've chosen for themselves.

[Deleted]

When I was in high school in California, I knew a Chinese girl whose name was Ni-Wah. Very easy to pronounce, but when she got a job at a coffee shop, they told her "we'll call you Linda."

[hwinpp]

Ok, now don't lets overdo it. K2 asked about Chinese names. They're monosyllabic, nothing difficult to pronounce about them at all.

[Deleted]

I think I'll go to China and tell everybody that my Christian name is Aloysius or Hieronymus or something like that. Then they'll probably want to give me a Chinese name instead.

[bixaorellana]

Ha ~~ you fell into the what-to-call-the-name trap! Your Christian name? Millions of people around the world aren't Christians, but still have names. Wouldn't the universal term be "given name"?

There's less confusion in Spanish, as it's apellido for family name and nombre for given name. That still leads to murkiness for non-native speakers who don't get that of the two apellidos, the first one is the "last name".

[Deleted]

That is exactly why I used the term "Christian name" -- because it is so ridiculous. I have only ever used 'first name' and 'last name' myself.

[bixaorellana]

France doesn't use the double "last" name system: given name + maternal last name + paternal last name?

What countries beside Spain & its former colonies use that?

[Deleted]

It is now allowed in France, in whichever order people want. But it hasn't really caught on, as far as I know.

One interesting thing in France is that the child receives the last name of whichever parent declares the birth to the authorities. I know some brothers and sisters with the same parents but different last names.