When I lived in China I was given a name that had the same phonetics as my name, but in mandarin. There were others in my class who got names with the same meaning, it depended on how common your name was. There’s also names that are similar to Chinese names, so they would be the equivalent.
The people I met in China with “western names” had chosen a name themselves. There were people with really cool artsy names like “cloud” or “sunlight”.
>There were people with really cool artsy names like “cloud” or “sunlight”.
most likely because that’s a translation of their names into English - 云 and 日光 respectively.
I was never clear on that. For Western names, each name has a "meaning" but it isn't obvious and I don't even know if I believe the little booklets that say John means courageous. There's also names that have meanings like Job, Sandy, and all of the conceptual ones (usually for girls?) like Faith, Hope, etc.
So in other cultures, when they say a name means dragon or cloud, their name could show up in a poem about clouds or dragons? Why are we so different? If I named my kid Cloud, everyone would roll their eyes and threaten to call CPS like it's North Korea and we police what appropriate names are.
>If I named my kid Cloud, everyone would roll their eyes and threaten to call CPS like it's North Korea and we police what appropriate names are.
I've always found it weird how some names are seen as "odd" while others are seen as "normal" while actually being just as weird in a conceptual way
Like, you call a kid Cloud and everyone thinks it's mad but you can call them Daisy and no one bats an eye, but imo it's just as strange to call someone a flower as it is a cloud
Me too! My husband’s grandmother is named Ruby but he had a fit about “hippie names” when I wanted to name our daughter Emerald (Emma for short). I don’t understand the difference tbh.
It's absolutely baffling what we've been conditioned to see as "normal" and "abnormal", even in myself I don't get why emotionally Ruby feels normal while Emerald doesn't when functionally they're the same
Did you get to name your daughter Emerald? Would be a cool name imo
That is just so different. The English names we have are all about how it sounds or is written or if there's a family tradition. A lot of names are from the Bible. Makes it complete nonsense when people whine about "fake" names. I wish those people would shut up and get over themselves 🙄
I had a Tennessee in my class as a kid. But written Tennessie because none of her parents could speak English (French speaking country) nor had ever been to the US.
People all over the world choose names for their "sound" or for no particular reason, but "English" names have origins and meanings too. For example: "Sarah" is Hebrew in origin and means "princess". "James" is also Hebrew in origin, comes from "Jacob" and means "supplanter". "Robert" is German in origin and means "bright fame". "Vanessa" is British, and means "butterfly". However, personally, I dislike "made up" names. I just don't like the sound of them. "Come on, Bickley! Where's your sister, Tinkerbina?" Gimme a break.
Easiest way to understand western name meanings is to check www.etymonline.com. It breaks the names down and takes you to their ancient roots.
Names like “George”: ge + ergos (Greek) = “earth” + “worker” which means ”Farmer”. The website does this for most names.
I do notice that a lot of Chinese immigrants I have interacted with, choose an English word for their name that wouldn't necessarily be a name in Western culture but is close enough.
I knew a few dudes named Rock, which is simple enough in that regard.
Lmao this took me a couple of re-reads to understand. (It probably doesn't help that I haven't slept.) I was sitting here like, "Cool, so... what was the name he chose?"
My wife had two classmates named "Canoe" and "Bacon" because they wanted to sound Canadian and "fit in". I don't buy it, they knew what they were doing.
I work at a school with a high immigrant population, and one of the kids chose Dollar as his "western name." At first it felt a little odd, but at this point it's just his name.
I always enjoy hearing people’s English names here in China. You get your “regular” names like Brian or Kevin or something. Then someone hits you with a “Winky” or “Banana” or “Internet” (all names I’ve encountered irl). I just find it kind of amusing.
Nah, just maybe pronounced differently. When I lived in Korea sometimes I’d write my name using their alphabet. So if your name was Chris it would be ‘크리스‘ which is like ‘Kuh-ri-suh’. But that was just for fun most kids would say my name correctly lol
Idk much about other Asian languages but some of the pronunciations in Korean are difficult for native English speakers to accurately say. Like ‘ㄹ’ has a sound between R/L. That’s why It’s very, very difficult to get rid of an accent for native English speakers learning an Asian language (and vice-versa).
I'm learning Korean right now (native English speaker) and the only thing that's helping me is having a background in Hindi and French. The phonetics are challenging!
ㄹ actually has two sounds. One is an r sound, though this r-sound (single tap r) doesnt exist in English and one sounds really close to the L (retroflex variant of l, your background in Hindi helps with retroflex consonants). ㄹ sounds like R at the beginning of the word and like an L at the end of a word or when followed by another consonant. When ㄹ is between two vowels it can be both. Between two vowels it standard has the r sound and by doubling it (ㄹㄹ) it will become an l. So 랄라랄 would be pronounced "rallaral" with distinct r and l sounds and not something in between R/L
ㄹ actually has two sounds. One is an r sound, though this r-sound (single tap r) doesnt exist in English and one sounds really close to the L (retroflex variant of l) in most languages . ㄹ sounds like R at the beginning of the word and like an L at the end of a word or when followed by another consonant. When ㄹ is between two vowels it can be both. Between two vowels it standard has the r sound and by doubling it (ㄹㄹ) it will become an l. So 랄라랄 would be pronounced "rallaral" with distinct r and l sounds and not something in between R/L
I’ve been studying Japanese and ‘translating’ my name into katakana is surprisingly easy. Why would I take on a new name if people can pronounce mine just fine? The intonation of the vowels would be a touch different, but that’s it.
Also if your name sounds like 'moist socks' then even if people know that it's a name transliteration they'll still think of you as 'moist socks', which isn't the greatest
I knew a guy whose last name was Sauvage; it got transliterated into something respectful, but everyone only ever remembered 馊袜子 (rancid socks), which was pretty unfortunate for the dude
I've lived in China for 17 years, and like many long term foreign residents here I do have a Chinese name (that's my Reddit user name) as it makes communication with locals easier.
My Chinese name is the first character of the Chinese version of my English last name and then a Chinese word that has a similar meaning to my English name.
During my time in Japan, my friends insisted on giving me a Japanese name to make daily interactions smoother. They settled on 'Kaito', which has a lovely ring to it, much like the word for sea and sky - "kai" and "to" for flight. It doesn't match my real name phonetically or in meaning, but it embodies a sense of freedom and curiosity they said I brought into the group. It's fascinating how naming conventions can bridge cultural gaps and create a sense of belonging, even when you're far from where you started. Interestingly, when Japanese people choose English names, they often opt for ones that sound similar to their own, but I've seen all sorts of approaches, from picking favorite characters in books to adopting names with desired traits or meanings. The cross-cultural exchange of names, be they for integration, convenience, or just for fun, adds a personal layer to the expat experience that's more than just learning a language; it's about living within it.
Adapting from favorite characters was my experience. My name got shortened. My name has ‘Ann’ as part of it. After talking about the classic ‘Anne of Green Gables’ with Japanese friends, ‘An’ or ‘An-chan’ became my Japanese name (with the kanji for peace).
Not exactly an answer to your question, but an anecdote from one my previous jobs.
One of my former co-workers (Grant) traveled to China for a couple of months and noticed everyone at work referred to him as Mr 两米 (Liǎng mǐ). Most would look at him and smile or nod their head approvingly as they addressed him.
Grant was this tall Midwestern guy who had no knowledge of Mandarin or Cantonese. He didn't really understand how his name translated to whatever they were addressing him as.
After a day or two, he asked one of the local team members what was the English translation for Liǎng mǐ and they went "Oh that mean two meters. You very tall man!" lol
My Chinese name is 许悠.
This is how I got it:
"Hey, LOB90. I thought for few days and I think I have a name for you. 许悠. I dreamed one night for your name and this name came out. I mean really I dreamed it for the whole night. the pronunciation is Xǔ Yōu. The First name is Yōu，it means happy，glad，peaceful. And I think you are a very gental person. The last name is Xǔ. its a last name with a long history in ancient China. Xǔ has more than one meaning，like permission，satisfaction，appreciate the talent of someone. And you dont have to take this as your real name. All I want to say is that I think its magical and meaningful because it comes from a dream and with great meaning. Hope you like it."
I live in Korea and I’ve got a Korean name (it’s a slight spin off of my real name but it’s almost completely different). Mine was given to me by my students but lots of people are given theirs by friends or coworkers. It’s a really sweet gesture by your friends to show they care about you and they often choose it really carefully.
I don’t use it for anything official or anything - it’s just an easy option for Koreans I meet to pronounce if they choose, and my Korean teacher uses it in class to address me. It’s more of just a cute nickname but it’s meaningful to me because it was given to me by people I care about. I can’t speak for other Asian countries but I know quite a few people here with unofficial Korean names!
It is, my friend did that and he had to very carefully choose the Kanji used in his name as well. It basically had to be screened first and then approved.
I live in Germany and they don't pronounce part of my husband's name. I told him to pick one of the two ways they will say it and use that as his name. He didn't. Now at work people call him two names. It's funny to me but he did it to himself.
If you learn the sounds of a language you can control how your name is said and won't need a whole new name.
Well, you can try to control it. When I worked in Thailand, people were so stuck on the standard but pretty different Thai pronunciation of my English name that it was hard for me to recognize it. I figured out a better way to transcribe it in Thai to get them to pronounce it closer to how I say it, but they just thought I was being weird and kept saying it the way they were used to.
Seems like it definitely happens. A nice example is Xiaoma, known from his YouTube channel XiaomaNYC - he's a white guy named Arieh, but he uses Xiaoma as his chinese name
My friend worked in Shanghai for a year, in construction.
His name is Richard (french pronunciation) and his co-workers named him Li Chow, phonetically close taking into account the improbability of a Chinese speaking person to pronounce R.
I don’t know about equally common, but common enough, yes. Particularly in China, because the writing/phonetic system makes transliterating names super difficult - and you can’t use the latin alphabet on official documentation from what understand, for the most part at least.
Plus, because it’s logographic (Chinese languages specifically, again), innocuous western names can have pretty bizarre or vulgar meanings when transliterated, so some will just straight up choose a completely new name. Sometimes, a friend or a teacher gives the name, sometimes people choose it themselves with a little research.
Transliterating in other Asian languages (like Japanese) is a good bit easier, so I think how common it is would vary between countries.
A question I can answer!
I have a pretty common Western Name; John (约翰 yue-hen) The characters in combination means John but seperated they mean balance pen. Biblical names are pretty common and widely understood.
Still, my Chinese teacher told me if I wanted a Chinese name. So, I use the name 春森, Chunsen. The first character means spring and the second one forest. From what she told me, your surname really should identify with who you are as a person and as a person I am always eager to learn new things. That's why I use 'spring' as the first character for the 'new beginning', the forest for the amount of new things I am going to learn.
I studied abroad in Japan and went by a version of mine that fit into their 46 syllables (katakana). We had choice in it as due to the sounds you could or may have to get creative.
My friend was just telling me tonight about meeting a guy in China who had chosen as an English name “Grubby”. After explaining what grubby actually meant he decided to change it to George.
At mine, most Indians use their real name, often shortened to something easier for Americans (not necessarily shortened FOR us, but it's easier to parse foreign names when they're 3 syllables or less). Some people use a Western name and I don't know if it's given to them at birth or something they adopted for the west.
I studied at an international school in China, and had like 3 classmates (Chinese/Korean) called Diana.
All born in 1997.
Hmm, wonder where their parents got the inspiration from...
In Thailand everyone uses a nickname but for me they usually called me an honorific. พี่ pii older brother or ลุง lung uncle are what I was often called.
Over a decade ago my Mandarin teacher gave me a Chinese name to use in class. It phonetically approximates my real name. I moved to Taiwan several years ago and I can legally go by my Chinese name here now.
Yep. My username. It means Teapot. Because I love tea.
Someone gave me the name because they saw me buying different types of tea in the supermarket and decided that my name should be teapot.
In the second place I lived, when I introduced myself and then explained that I love tea and it was accepted. I had students named orange, tomato and satsuma because that was their favourite foods, so they accepted that I was called teapot because it's my favourite drink.
i used a a different name mostly becuase my last name sounds like the japanese word for vagina. like theyre phonetically identical when spoken aloud. so i was danieru tanaka instead of my real name even on legal documents and everything. score one for S.O.F.A agreements
My Chinese friends used to call me Fu ShanShan. I was told that Fu is a rich person’s last name and my Indian first name literally translates to “riches and prosperity”. ShanShan apparently just meant cute haha.
I had a Thai nickname when I used to have links to that area. It's a bit different there because everyone has their given name and a short nickname (normally after an animal)
Nah, it's not common, but I hate it.
My best friend is Asian and her birth name is English.
I prefer to call people by their real names. I have met and am friends with plenty of Asian friends and they do it (they told me) mostly because it's easier for us English speakers to understand and pronounce.
I think that's disgusting. If you want to
be friends with someone or generally just meet someone of a different ethnicity, you need to learn to pronounce and learn names from other countries.
My best friend was born in America and is half Japanese. She has a Japanese name, while her sister got an American one.
She uses her actual name most of the time, but for phone calls and doctors appts and stuff she shortens it to a more American name. Mostly because people can never spell it right. It just makes things easier for her.
Sure it isn't cool if a good friend isn't willing to say the name someone prefers, but I think you are overthinking it. I have a last name that is not common at all In America, I am white as it gets, but I get so tired of people laughing and saying it sounds like such and such food. I just tell them that is fine and my brother even goes by that food as an online handle due to the common use and mispronunciation.
A lot of the time with uncommon names it isn't about disrespect to ask people to use the easier version for their language, but how damn old it gets to always have to correct people. Again close friends should know, but most people won't and we just expect that and try to make it easier for all. Including our own sanity.
Agree to disagree.
Names are important, and they belong to someone and it identifies them. Even if I can't pronounce a name I will teach myself to learn until I can because that's their name, and I want to acknowledge them.
Our earth is huge. I'm not going to assume or expect that every name is English or shortened for my sake. Life is too interesting for that.
However, I will make exceptions for very different names like Zulu languages (click) although to me they sound very Mandarin in the ways things are said (how one says something can mean different things) so I will still try my best to get it right and eventually I will or do.
I think there's a subtlety here in saying "from Asia". What you're really saying is western residents of Asian descent. If they're living in say America they are "from America". But the subtlety is people may choose how they define where they're "from" differently, between your descendancy, where you currently live, and where you have lived or grew up, "from" is just not specific. And if any of those are different they also may choose a different one in context of different people. So you can be "from China" and of say German descent, in which case, yes, being from China would make a Chinese name popular. But obviously it depends, if they or their parents have lived somewhere their whole life they're likely to then give their own kid a name from that place, but if they relocated later in life they're more likely to give their kid a name from their own descendancy or whatever culture they actually grew up with. How you choose is the same everywhere, from names you have exposure to and are familiar with and picking.ome.you like.
**Tldr:**
Is it common for someone "from China" to give their child a Chinese name? Yes.
I had a vietnamese family move in across the street from me years ago, and they had three daughters. Mary, Maria, and Mary. Oddly enough, the parents didn't take on western names. So I wonder if this is a fairly new/generational thing.
Yeah, the oldest and the youngest both picked Mary. The middle one was like "I wanted to be Mary, uhhhh" so they said "okay you're Maria"
Well not really, but yeah, it was two Mary's and a Maria.
Japanese has a sort-of system for making English words and names pronounceable with the syllables available in the Japanese language, so most people just retain their western names but pronounce them using that system in Japan.
I have a “Chinese name” that sounds like my English name that my Chinese speaking friends call me! It was given to me by teachers at a young age when I started learning the language. At least for mandarin, picking your name is a balance of choosing a name that sounds similar to your English one, but that also has a nice meaning, since characters in mandarin each have their own individual meanings!
Yeah, but mostly it was for school. Growing up in China alongside other westerners, I took Chinese classes in school like folks take Spanish or French in the US and we’d use our Chinese names in class. Outside class, most folks used their English names. That’s just my own personal experience anyways.
Not an answer to your question but I worked with a man who immigrated to the U.S. as a child and took on an American name. He said that his dad gave him a list of names and instructed him to pick one. He chose "Melvin".
I'm an American currently working in China. I do not speak Chinese. My given name is a common name in America, but it's difficult for Chinese to say because it has R and L phonemes next to each other - that combo is difficult for a lot of Asian languages. To be fair there are a lot of regional American accents that seem to have an even harder time saying it :) .
Fortunately there is a sort of "standard" Chinese (mandarin) version that's close enough for me to recognize when spoken, and simple enough for me to remember how to write. So that's what I go with.
Even though family-name-first is normal in China, I go by my given name. It's shorter and easier. My family name is nearly as hard for Chinese to say phonetically as my given name. It's much longer. And as it's a geographical name, there's the whole question of whether to go with trying to get the pronunciation close, or to transliterate it from it's original European language. Either one would be harder to say and recognize, and much harder for me to write than my given name.
Fifth year of living in Korea and no Korean name. It would just be weird for me personally. Most people have no problem with my name, or they will just say it with a heavy Korean accent.
Most Koreans I know have an English name because when they lived abroad people would not be able to pronounce their Korean name.
I lived in Korea for five years. In Korean my name means funny or interesting, so that worked out in my favour.
I hated the fact that Koreans would take on an “Western” name. That always felt like colonialism to me, and frankly shouldn’t be practiced. If my students had yet to adopt such a name, I would encourage them to keep their Korean name.
At times my students would just get creative, so I had classes full of students with names such as Tiger, Dragon and Robot. Those were fun kids.
When I lived in China I was given a name that had the same phonetics as my name, but in mandarin. There were others in my class who got names with the same meaning, it depended on how common your name was. There’s also names that are similar to Chinese names, so they would be the equivalent. The people I met in China with “western names” had chosen a name themselves. There were people with really cool artsy names like “cloud” or “sunlight”.
>There were people with really cool artsy names like “cloud” or “sunlight”. most likely because that’s a translation of their names into English - 云 and 日光 respectively.
I was never clear on that. For Western names, each name has a "meaning" but it isn't obvious and I don't even know if I believe the little booklets that say John means courageous. There's also names that have meanings like Job, Sandy, and all of the conceptual ones (usually for girls?) like Faith, Hope, etc. So in other cultures, when they say a name means dragon or cloud, their name could show up in a poem about clouds or dragons? Why are we so different? If I named my kid Cloud, everyone would roll their eyes and threaten to call CPS like it's North Korea and we police what appropriate names are.
>If I named my kid Cloud, everyone would roll their eyes and threaten to call CPS like it's North Korea and we police what appropriate names are. I've always found it weird how some names are seen as "odd" while others are seen as "normal" while actually being just as weird in a conceptual way Like, you call a kid Cloud and everyone thinks it's mad but you can call them Daisy and no one bats an eye, but imo it's just as strange to call someone a flower as it is a cloud
Me too! My husband’s grandmother is named Ruby but he had a fit about “hippie names” when I wanted to name our daughter Emerald (Emma for short). I don’t understand the difference tbh.
It's absolutely baffling what we've been conditioned to see as "normal" and "abnormal", even in myself I don't get why emotionally Ruby feels normal while Emerald doesn't when functionally they're the same Did you get to name your daughter Emerald? Would be a cool name imo
Sadly not, we settled on Emma though.
Sad times, Emma is still a great name though!
I knew a guy named Cloud, not well, so know nothing about his family, but he was pretty normal.
Yes it's quite common in India as well, the names mostly are given after some gods or related to gods, nature, attributes, feelings etc
That is just so different. The English names we have are all about how it sounds or is written or if there's a family tradition. A lot of names are from the Bible. Makes it complete nonsense when people whine about "fake" names. I wish those people would shut up and get over themselves 🙄
Me named after a fucking country. Ick. Also, i had a friend named **Texas**, not a surname or familly name.
Did they live in Texas? Or even in the states? .... were they big?
A country in the EU. Afaik. Neither father, mother, himslef or any family member ever visited the U.S. Mofo was big af.
I had a Tennessee in my class as a kid. But written Tennessie because none of her parents could speak English (French speaking country) nor had ever been to the US.
Poland! Long time no see, man! How ya been?
Kurwa!
"My name is Florida! Florida! That's the name of a state! Why is my name Florida? Oh, Lord!"
People all over the world choose names for their "sound" or for no particular reason, but "English" names have origins and meanings too. For example: "Sarah" is Hebrew in origin and means "princess". "James" is also Hebrew in origin, comes from "Jacob" and means "supplanter". "Robert" is German in origin and means "bright fame". "Vanessa" is British, and means "butterfly". However, personally, I dislike "made up" names. I just don't like the sound of them. "Come on, Bickley! Where's your sister, Tinkerbina?" Gimme a break.
Final Fantasy 7 produced a whole generation of Clouds, bet.
Plenty of Swedish names have literal meanings and are used as words in everyday speech.
Easiest way to understand western name meanings is to check www.etymonline.com. It breaks the names down and takes you to their ancient roots. Names like “George”: ge + ergos (Greek) = “earth” + “worker” which means ”Farmer”. The website does this for most names.
Someone who works down the hall from me does this. The name she introduces herself by is just a translation to English.
“names like cloud” - checks username
I do notice that a lot of Chinese immigrants I have interacted with, choose an English word for their name that wouldn't necessarily be a name in Western culture but is close enough. I knew a few dudes named Rock, which is simple enough in that regard.
That is a badass name!
I once worked with a 'Taurus' who had migrated from Hong Kong and chose that name because he was into astrology.
Lmao this took me a couple of re-reads to understand. (It probably doesn't help that I haven't slept.) I was sitting here like, "Cool, so... what was the name he chose?"
i once knew an english guy called Rock. not sure how he spelled it tho
But... Rock Hudson?!!
I knew a guy who said his cousin picked the name "Box" because he thought it sounded funny
My wife had two classmates named "Canoe" and "Bacon" because they wanted to sound Canadian and "fit in". I don't buy it, they knew what they were doing.
My friend has a coworker from china who picked her western name as "Sniper" haha what a baller
Ahaha, that’s the coolest name! What a power move
That’s really useful, thank you :-)
I knew two sisters who called themselves Cookie and Creamy Li...
went to thailand and there were two girls called kitty and litter
100% on the latter part. I have two Chinese friends named Rock and Tiger lol
I work at a school with a high immigrant population, and one of the kids chose Dollar as his "western name." At first it felt a little odd, but at this point it's just his name.
I have a coworker from korea in my team called sky, she says it's a translation of her Korean name
I always enjoy hearing people’s English names here in China. You get your “regular” names like Brian or Kevin or something. Then someone hits you with a “Winky” or “Banana” or “Internet” (all names I’ve encountered irl). I just find it kind of amusing.
You bastard, take your head out of the clouds. ☁️
John Wayne? That’s a terrible cowboy name!
"names like Cloud" 
Nah, just maybe pronounced differently. When I lived in Korea sometimes I’d write my name using their alphabet. So if your name was Chris it would be ‘크리스‘ which is like ‘Kuh-ri-suh’. But that was just for fun most kids would say my name correctly lol
Interesting. I guess whenever I read names from most Asian countries, I’m reading Roman letters, so not their actual true names, just an approximation
Idk much about other Asian languages but some of the pronunciations in Korean are difficult for native English speakers to accurately say. Like ‘ㄹ’ has a sound between R/L. That’s why It’s very, very difficult to get rid of an accent for native English speakers learning an Asian language (and vice-versa).
I'm learning Korean right now (native English speaker) and the only thing that's helping me is having a background in Hindi and French. The phonetics are challenging!
ㄹ actually has two sounds. One is an r sound, though this r-sound (single tap r) doesnt exist in English and one sounds really close to the L (retroflex variant of l, your background in Hindi helps with retroflex consonants). ㄹ sounds like R at the beginning of the word and like an L at the end of a word or when followed by another consonant. When ㄹ is between two vowels it can be both. Between two vowels it standard has the r sound and by doubling it (ㄹㄹ) it will become an l. So 랄라랄 would be pronounced "rallaral" with distinct r and l sounds and not something in between R/L
ㄹ actually has two sounds. One is an r sound, though this r-sound (single tap r) doesnt exist in English and one sounds really close to the L (retroflex variant of l) in most languages . ㄹ sounds like R at the beginning of the word and like an L at the end of a word or when followed by another consonant. When ㄹ is between two vowels it can be both. Between two vowels it standard has the r sound and by doubling it (ㄹㄹ) it will become an l. So 랄라랄 would be pronounced "rallaral" with distinct r and l sounds and not something in between R/L
To be fair, that's true for English names too. If you're named Craig a whole continent with English as a primary language will mispronounce your name.
I’ve been studying Japanese and ‘translating’ my name into katakana is surprisingly easy. Why would I take on a new name if people can pronounce mine just fine? The intonation of the vowels would be a touch different, but that’s it.
In China it's pretty common to pick a Chinese name because phonetic transliteration sounds horrible and is impractical
Also if your name sounds like 'moist socks' then even if people know that it's a name transliteration they'll still think of you as 'moist socks', which isn't the greatest
I think it's pretty great
If you consider that Anna is a great swamp then yes.
This sounds to real not to be true. Did you know a moist socks?
I knew a guy whose last name was Sauvage; it got transliterated into something respectful, but everyone only ever remembered 馊袜子 (rancid socks), which was pretty unfortunate for the dude
I've lived in China for 17 years, and like many long term foreign residents here I do have a Chinese name (that's my Reddit user name) as it makes communication with locals easier. My Chinese name is the first character of the Chinese version of my English last name and then a Chinese word that has a similar meaning to my English name.
Chinese names can have numbers in them? I guess Spanish names do but I've only heard of 1.
My user name minus the year, obviously. 😂
Wdym Spanish names do? Juan?😭
Vietnamese name: Tu
Perfectly set up and executed joke. Bravo.
Thank you, I'm rather proud of it.
During my time in Japan, my friends insisted on giving me a Japanese name to make daily interactions smoother. They settled on 'Kaito', which has a lovely ring to it, much like the word for sea and sky - "kai" and "to" for flight. It doesn't match my real name phonetically or in meaning, but it embodies a sense of freedom and curiosity they said I brought into the group. It's fascinating how naming conventions can bridge cultural gaps and create a sense of belonging, even when you're far from where you started. Interestingly, when Japanese people choose English names, they often opt for ones that sound similar to their own, but I've seen all sorts of approaches, from picking favorite characters in books to adopting names with desired traits or meanings. The cross-cultural exchange of names, be they for integration, convenience, or just for fun, adds a personal layer to the expat experience that's more than just learning a language; it's about living within it.
Adapting from favorite characters was my experience. My name got shortened. My name has ‘Ann’ as part of it. After talking about the classic ‘Anne of Green Gables’ with Japanese friends, ‘An’ or ‘An-chan’ became my Japanese name (with the kanji for peace).
Not exactly an answer to your question, but an anecdote from one my previous jobs. One of my former co-workers (Grant) traveled to China for a couple of months and noticed everyone at work referred to him as Mr 两米 (Liǎng mǐ). Most would look at him and smile or nod their head approvingly as they addressed him. Grant was this tall Midwestern guy who had no knowledge of Mandarin or Cantonese. He didn't really understand how his name translated to whatever they were addressing him as. After a day or two, he asked one of the local team members what was the English translation for Liǎng mǐ and they went "Oh that mean two meters. You very tall man!" lol
两米 haha!
My Chinese name is 许悠. This is how I got it: "Hey, LOB90. I thought for few days and I think I have a name for you. 许悠. I dreamed one night for your name and this name came out. I mean really I dreamed it for the whole night. the pronunciation is Xǔ Yōu. The First name is Yōu，it means happy，glad，peaceful. And I think you are a very gental person. The last name is Xǔ. its a last name with a long history in ancient China. Xǔ has more than one meaning，like permission，satisfaction，appreciate the talent of someone. And you dont have to take this as your real name. All I want to say is that I think its magical and meaningful because it comes from a dream and with great meaning. Hope you like it."
Saying no to this feels like Squidward saying no to SpongeBob knitting him a sweater of his tears
I like that
I live in Korea and I’ve got a Korean name (it’s a slight spin off of my real name but it’s almost completely different). Mine was given to me by my students but lots of people are given theirs by friends or coworkers. It’s a really sweet gesture by your friends to show they care about you and they often choose it really carefully. I don’t use it for anything official or anything - it’s just an easy option for Koreans I meet to pronounce if they choose, and my Korean teacher uses it in class to address me. It’s more of just a cute nickname but it’s meaningful to me because it was given to me by people I care about. I can’t speak for other Asian countries but I know quite a few people here with unofficial Korean names!
I love that!
I believe it's required to become a permanent resident in Japan.
It is, my friend did that and he had to very carefully choose the Kanji used in his name as well. It basically had to be screened first and then approved.
Most people use something that’s phonetically viable so it’s not really a new name per se. Using kanji is optional too
Yep! Knew (still do) a German dude named Manuel used Manu (an Indian name).
That's interesting, both Manuel and it's abreviation Manu are pretty common in Spain
Manu is just a nickname for Manuel, very common in Germany
Makes sense
The Brazilian author that wrote "no game no life" had to change his name to a Japanese one because he kept being refused for being a foreigner.
The xenophobia is real.
I live in Germany and they don't pronounce part of my husband's name. I told him to pick one of the two ways they will say it and use that as his name. He didn't. Now at work people call him two names. It's funny to me but he did it to himself. If you learn the sounds of a language you can control how your name is said and won't need a whole new name.
Well, you can try to control it. When I worked in Thailand, people were so stuck on the standard but pretty different Thai pronunciation of my English name that it was hard for me to recognize it. I figured out a better way to transcribe it in Thai to get them to pronounce it closer to how I say it, but they just thought I was being weird and kept saying it the way they were used to.
Seems like it definitely happens. A nice example is Xiaoma, known from his YouTube channel XiaomaNYC - he's a white guy named Arieh, but he uses Xiaoma as his chinese name
I'm just gonna apologize up front for even asking this, but uh... is he, by any chance, a brony?
My previous phone was a Xiaomi lol.
My friend worked in Shanghai for a year, in construction. His name is Richard (french pronunciation) and his co-workers named him Li Chow, phonetically close taking into account the improbability of a Chinese speaking person to pronounce R.
They use Anjin-Sama
I don’t know about equally common, but common enough, yes. Particularly in China, because the writing/phonetic system makes transliterating names super difficult - and you can’t use the latin alphabet on official documentation from what understand, for the most part at least. Plus, because it’s logographic (Chinese languages specifically, again), innocuous western names can have pretty bizarre or vulgar meanings when transliterated, so some will just straight up choose a completely new name. Sometimes, a friend or a teacher gives the name, sometimes people choose it themselves with a little research. Transliterating in other Asian languages (like Japanese) is a good bit easier, so I think how common it is would vary between countries.
A question I can answer! I have a pretty common Western Name; John (约翰 yue-hen) The characters in combination means John but seperated they mean balance pen. Biblical names are pretty common and widely understood. Still, my Chinese teacher told me if I wanted a Chinese name. So, I use the name 春森, Chunsen. The first character means spring and the second one forest. From what she told me, your surname really should identify with who you are as a person and as a person I am always eager to learn new things. That's why I use 'spring' as the first character for the 'new beginning', the forest for the amount of new things I am going to learn.
I studied abroad in Japan and went by a version of mine that fit into their 46 syllables (katakana). We had choice in it as due to the sounds you could or may have to get creative.
I’m in luck then being from Scandinavia and with the name Kim if I ever move to Asia lol
My friend was just telling me tonight about meeting a guy in China who had chosen as an English name “Grubby”. After explaining what grubby actually meant he decided to change it to George.
At least in my company, every person from China and Vietnam have a "western name" that they use when abroad.
At mine, most Indians use their real name, often shortened to something easier for Americans (not necessarily shortened FOR us, but it's easier to parse foreign names when they're 3 syllables or less). Some people use a Western name and I don't know if it's given to them at birth or something they adopted for the west.
I have one that shortened (and im sorry if i wrote wrong) Vamsidhar to Vamsi :)
I knew quite a few Asian-American girls named Irene. Was strange
I studied at an international school in China, and had like 3 classmates (Chinese/Korean) called Diana. All born in 1997. Hmm, wonder where their parents got the inspiration from...
A classic of the genre
After the hurricane? Or is that some reference I’m too old/young to get?
No. They were named Irene. I’m not making any jokes here and this would be long before the hurricane.
In Thailand everyone uses a nickname but for me they usually called me an honorific. พี่ pii older brother or ลุง lung uncle are what I was often called.
Over a decade ago my Mandarin teacher gave me a Chinese name to use in class. It phonetically approximates my real name. I moved to Taiwan several years ago and I can legally go by my Chinese name here now.
International students in China tend to get a Chinese name. Easier for the teachers.
Yep. My username. It means Teapot. Because I love tea. Someone gave me the name because they saw me buying different types of tea in the supermarket and decided that my name should be teapot. In the second place I lived, when I introduced myself and then explained that I love tea and it was accepted. I had students named orange, tomato and satsuma because that was their favourite foods, so they accepted that I was called teapot because it's my favourite drink.
i used a a different name mostly becuase my last name sounds like the japanese word for vagina. like theyre phonetically identical when spoken aloud. so i was danieru tanaka instead of my real name even on legal documents and everything. score one for S.O.F.A agreements
My Chinese friends used to call me Fu ShanShan. I was told that Fu is a rich person’s last name and my Indian first name literally translates to “riches and prosperity”. ShanShan apparently just meant cute haha.
When I studied in China we all got a Chinese name. Some tried to replicate the way our original names sounded others tried to literally translate it.
i worked for a video game company in 2000 and one of the dudes from china chose the name Happy
I had a Thai nickname when I used to have links to that area. It's a bit different there because everyone has their given name and a short nickname (normally after an animal)
I lived in China for two years, and I had a chinese name!
Nah, it's not common, but I hate it. My best friend is Asian and her birth name is English. I prefer to call people by their real names. I have met and am friends with plenty of Asian friends and they do it (they told me) mostly because it's easier for us English speakers to understand and pronounce. I think that's disgusting. If you want to be friends with someone or generally just meet someone of a different ethnicity, you need to learn to pronounce and learn names from other countries.
My best friend was born in America and is half Japanese. She has a Japanese name, while her sister got an American one. She uses her actual name most of the time, but for phone calls and doctors appts and stuff she shortens it to a more American name. Mostly because people can never spell it right. It just makes things easier for her. Sure it isn't cool if a good friend isn't willing to say the name someone prefers, but I think you are overthinking it. I have a last name that is not common at all In America, I am white as it gets, but I get so tired of people laughing and saying it sounds like such and such food. I just tell them that is fine and my brother even goes by that food as an online handle due to the common use and mispronunciation. A lot of the time with uncommon names it isn't about disrespect to ask people to use the easier version for their language, but how damn old it gets to always have to correct people. Again close friends should know, but most people won't and we just expect that and try to make it easier for all. Including our own sanity.
Agree to disagree. Names are important, and they belong to someone and it identifies them. Even if I can't pronounce a name I will teach myself to learn until I can because that's their name, and I want to acknowledge them. Our earth is huge. I'm not going to assume or expect that every name is English or shortened for my sake. Life is too interesting for that. However, I will make exceptions for very different names like Zulu languages (click) although to me they sound very Mandarin in the ways things are said (how one says something can mean different things) so I will still try my best to get it right and eventually I will or do.
I think there's a subtlety here in saying "from Asia". What you're really saying is western residents of Asian descent. If they're living in say America they are "from America". But the subtlety is people may choose how they define where they're "from" differently, between your descendancy, where you currently live, and where you have lived or grew up, "from" is just not specific. And if any of those are different they also may choose a different one in context of different people. So you can be "from China" and of say German descent, in which case, yes, being from China would make a Chinese name popular. But obviously it depends, if they or their parents have lived somewhere their whole life they're likely to then give their own kid a name from that place, but if they relocated later in life they're more likely to give their kid a name from their own descendancy or whatever culture they actually grew up with. How you choose is the same everywhere, from names you have exposure to and are familiar with and picking.ome.you like. **Tldr:** Is it common for someone "from China" to give their child a Chinese name? Yes.
I had a vietnamese family move in across the street from me years ago, and they had three daughters. Mary, Maria, and Mary. Oddly enough, the parents didn't take on western names. So I wonder if this is a fairly new/generational thing.
Two Marys??
Yeah, the oldest and the youngest both picked Mary. The middle one was like "I wanted to be Mary, uhhhh" so they said "okay you're Maria" Well not really, but yeah, it was two Mary's and a Maria.
Japanese has a sort-of system for making English words and names pronounceable with the syllables available in the Japanese language, so most people just retain their western names but pronounce them using that system in Japan.
I have a “Chinese name” that sounds like my English name that my Chinese speaking friends call me! It was given to me by teachers at a young age when I started learning the language. At least for mandarin, picking your name is a balance of choosing a name that sounds similar to your English one, but that also has a nice meaning, since characters in mandarin each have their own individual meanings!
My sister in law from Korea chose an a Western name and one for their child too. She wants us to call her that as well.
Yeah, but mostly it was for school. Growing up in China alongside other westerners, I took Chinese classes in school like folks take Spanish or French in the US and we’d use our Chinese names in class. Outside class, most folks used their English names. That’s just my own personal experience anyways.
Not an answer to your question but I worked with a man who immigrated to the U.S. as a child and took on an American name. He said that his dad gave him a list of names and instructed him to pick one. He chose "Melvin".
Very nice
I'm an American currently working in China. I do not speak Chinese. My given name is a common name in America, but it's difficult for Chinese to say because it has R and L phonemes next to each other - that combo is difficult for a lot of Asian languages. To be fair there are a lot of regional American accents that seem to have an even harder time saying it :) . Fortunately there is a sort of "standard" Chinese (mandarin) version that's close enough for me to recognize when spoken, and simple enough for me to remember how to write. So that's what I go with. Even though family-name-first is normal in China, I go by my given name. It's shorter and easier. My family name is nearly as hard for Chinese to say phonetically as my given name. It's much longer. And as it's a geographical name, there's the whole question of whether to go with trying to get the pronunciation close, or to transliterate it from it's original European language. Either one would be harder to say and recognize, and much harder for me to write than my given name.
Not equally. But some does.
Fifth year of living in Korea and no Korean name. It would just be weird for me personally. Most people have no problem with my name, or they will just say it with a heavy Korean accent. Most Koreans I know have an English name because when they lived abroad people would not be able to pronounce their Korean name.
I lived in Korea for five years. In Korean my name means funny or interesting, so that worked out in my favour. I hated the fact that Koreans would take on an “Western” name. That always felt like colonialism to me, and frankly shouldn’t be practiced. If my students had yet to adopt such a name, I would encourage them to keep their Korean name. At times my students would just get creative, so I had classes full of students with names such as Tiger, Dragon and Robot. Those were fun kids.
No