<p>Some things in the past two weeks have me thinking about Asian students I know who have taken American names. One of ds’s longtime best friends, an immigrant, told us once about how he chose his American name (his mom heard an American mother call her son on the playground, liked the name and so his mom took that name for him). It makes sense to me that for a young child new to America, having an American name would make the transition easier.</p>
<p>What surprised me is that when we finally met freshman ds’s current roommate, who is from an Asian country, after a week he already had adopted an American name. Truthfully, it kind of made dh and I sad that he had adopted an American name rather than stay with his given name, as an adult in a college setting. Is this common even at that age?</p>
<p>The other thing that got me thinking is that I’m working on the directory for ds2’s school, and I found it interesting how some Asian kids and their parents had American names and others didn’t. I wondered whether there was more at work here than personal preference.</p>
<p>I hope this doesn’t turn into some racially divisive thread. If that’s your intent, please close this now. I just know very little about this practice and am looking to be enlightened. Because I’m so clueless, I apologize now if what I’m asking is offensive. I certainly don’t intend to be. ccers are just so darn knowledgable about so many things that I thought this would be a good place to ask.</p>
<p>I am always a bit sad when my students say something along the line of my name is “fill in real name,” but people call me “fill in American name that may or may not resemble real name.” I think that people should be called by their name–whatever it is. Having said that, I also think that the American/Americanized name is easier for Americans and it helps with the process of acclimating to American life. Surely this is what many of the immigrants who came through Ellis Island experienced with their last names. With Europeans, their first names could often be changed to the American version. </p>
<p>With Asian names, it isn’t easy to make a simple shift. Two people I know, who are the children of immigrants, were just given both American and Asian names (e.g. American first name, Asian middle name). I think that the name change game has been going on for a long time; it is just more pronounced with Asian names. John Schultz is not unusual; John Chang is a bit different.</p>
<p>I work with tons of Asians at my workplace and I’m thrilled when they adopt American names in lieu of their native name.</p>
<p>I’ve noticed that the immigrant people who have adopted American names also adopt American traditions and American values very quickly, while those that hang on to their traditional name tend not to adopt to American values and are more challenging to work with.</p>
<p>I’m talking about first name only, not last name.</p>
<p>If the name is easy for people to say and remember then it’s good to keep. I know many Asian parents but I could not remember their first names. Many people from India and China change their name in my workplace although they still keep their official names.</p>
<p>My dh immigrated from PRC in late 80s…went to college with his given Chinese name, went to work with his given name and then recently after starting his own business, adopted an American name for work - it simply was more annoying to be mispronounced repeatedly all day long than just to go by something else. I don’t think he did it to get ahead, look more American or anything like that, it was just easier. </p>
<p>In my work, our dept had a summer intern who was coached by a superior to change his name (I believe it was Jawanza), change his ties and streamline himself as a nice corporate citizen. That was offensive to most of us in the dept. because the intern was not the one who made these choices. They were thrust upon him by a superior.</p>
<p>I made the decision in elementary school to keep my Asian name even though it’s different and hard to spell, simply because that is my name and that’s what I would like to be called— and perhaps also partially because my mother had suggested then that I adopt an American name, and at that age, you have the reverse psychology to always do the opposite of what your parents suggest. I’ve never regretted that decision, and don’t see at all how a person should be judged based on his or her name as moneyisimportant said.</p>
<p>I think people should call themselves whatever they want to call themselves, but they shouldn’t expect people to spell or pronounce their name correctly. </p>
<p>My mother called me Joseph James so that I had the initials JJ, and for the longest time (very long) I refused to go by that nickname because I thought it sounded like a 5 year old name. What happened, was people called me Joe, and Joe sounds like the name of some really fat guy that smokes tobacco or something <em>shudder</em> </p>
<p>So finally, at some point I got tired of that and started going by JJ again. Yay. XD</p>
<p>I have two friends who are Asian and came to US for college- both males. Before I met them I saw their names on the list and since one name was Latino sounding ( the other is Russian) I was mystified when everyone was present & I didn’t see anyone who looked at all Hispanic.
The Asian women that are 1st gen haven’t changed their names & while I do have trouble spelling them for while, ,I don’t have any trouble pronouncing.</p>
<p>I don’t see changing their name as denying their heritage, just taking advantage of using a name that perhaps expresses a part of their personality that their given name doesn’t .
Ive changed the spelling of my own name, even legally, and my D used a different spelling as well through school ( although not legal, so in college she has her birth spelling)</p>
<p>Dh’s grandparents changed their name when they came through Ellis Island. I guess I’m being a little naive to think that people would feel like they still need to do that, for whatever reason. But to each his own.</p>
<p>Interestingly, ds’s HS friend about two years ago went back to his Chinese name. I think that’s why the whole concept has intrigued me – because we’ve known this kid for many years, back when he went by “Tom” and have always called him that, but newer friends were calling him by his Chinese name. So, here was one 18yo who now felt comfortable enough to go back to his Chinese name, but the 18yo new to America quickly adopts a new name.</p>
<p>amanda, that’s interesting about your dh. Both my maiden name and married name are regularly butchered. Funny that this is the EASY version of dh’s family name. ;)</p>
<p>On the other hand, I very much expect you to both spell and pronounce my name correctly or at least give a reasonable effort. It’s a simple matter of respect and courtesy. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>The vast majority of my students who have Asian first names also use or provide us with an Anglo name. Whereas my students from Iran, Pakistan, India, Turkey etc. tend to use their original names (or a shortened version rather than a new Anglo name) even though they are as challenging for us to learn and pronounce. In the last two years, I’ve seen what looks like a trend toward Asian students maintaining their original name. I find the topic really interesting and wonder why some change their names and others do not (from a cultural perspective rather than an individual personality perspective). </p>
<p>I really like the diversity of original names and hope they become part of the larger culture. Many of my foreign born graduate students are now parents and I’m heartened when I see they’ve given their child a name that reflects their country of origin. It just makes it all so much more interesting. Then again I reside in a country that focuses on creating a ‘mosaic’ of cultures, rather than a ‘melting pot’ of cultures.</p>
<p>I have a Chinese friend who goes by Cheryl. She picked the name when she was 20, because she liked Cheryl Ladd from Charlie’s Angels, lol. She felt that her Chinese name was impossible for Americans to pronounce.</p>
<p>I have no idea what your name is, but we have a lot of Vietnamese names in our workplace. It’s unresonable to expect that people unfamiliar with the Vietanemese language to know how to pronounce names. </p>
<p>Two examples: Nguyen and Quynhgiao. Both are virtually impossible to get correct without prior knowledge of how to pronounce it or the language.</p>
<p>My H is French, so the kids have French last name. I am Chinese, so both of our girls have Chinese names that are easy to pronounce. They don’t have American middle names for people to call them by. I wanted them to have both Chinese and American names so they don’t forget for they are, and also wanted people to know they are multi-racial by just looking at their names. </p>
<p>My girls Chinese names(Chinese character) have right number of strokes to match my name. My father took a lot of time in selecting the right characters. It’s suppose to bring great luck to the kids. </p>
<p>Both of our girls are very proud of their heritages. We eat Chinese food at home, cooked by H, we celebrate most of Chinese holidays, and all of American holidays. Any holiday having to do with food, presents, we are all for it.</p>
<p>Both are virtually impossible to get correct without prior knowledge of how to pronounce it or the language.</p>
<p>I have difficulty hearing clearly especially in the range of human speech. I also used to help in my daughters Mandarin class & found that while the kids picked it up, many of the symbols I had great difficulty with as I couldn’t even notice a difference in tone, let alone be able to speak it. ( & I hear Cantonese is even more difficult?)</p>
<p>I know a Chinese couple who adopted American names when they came to the U.S.
They then had two sons and gave them American names. What I find interesting is that the names they chose are not super common/popular adult names and the names they chose for their children are not “en vogue” or common names for American kids. One of them is Ivan.</p>
<p>I worked for a company owned by an indian family once, and they had all changed to american names “for business purposes.” My boss felt that when he introduced himself, it would be easier for them to remember Keith later than his Indian name (which, admittedly, I do not remember anymore!) I’d like to say that it’s sad that people feel the need to let go of something that seems cultural to me, but as someone with a 4 letter mono-syllabic name I guess I have no room to speak on the matter.</p>
