Chinese people, English names
Most Chinese young people, and some of the not-so-young people, have English names, apart from their official Chinese names which appear in their identity cards. Lots of them choose their English name (or their teacher chooses it for them) when they start studying English. The reason? Supposedly Chinese names are too complicated to pronounce by foreigners, so it’s better to make things easier for them and just use an English name. In my office we have a Jessica, a Sherry, an Elaine, a James… (Interestingly enough, I have three colleagues which grew up in Spain. None of them have an English or Spanish name, they used their Chinese name when they were living in Spain and I guess they had no problem at all). Foreign students also choose a Chinese name when they come to study in China (or their teacher chooses one for them) as for some Chinese it is hard to remember/pronounce foreign names (and I guess they also find amusing that a blue-eyed blonde girl is called 小李 or whatever).
Choosing a name in a language that it is not your mother tongue can be complicated. Each culture has specific norms for choosing a person’s name. For example, in my home country, Spain, names are chosen from a preexistent names list (traditionally, names taken from the Bible or saints’ names), almost no one would just make up a name for their baby. In the Philippines they are much more creative and they do make up names. And what abour China? Here there is not a preexistent names list. Parents just choose whatever character(s) they like, normally one or two, and create a name for their baby. Does it sound easy? Well, it’s not! In China there are even professional baby namers (yes, that is a job!) that can help parents choose an auspicious name. Even the tone of the characters has to be taken into account: an Etymology teacher I had in Beijing explained us that she would never use a character with a fourth tone in a baby’s name. Why? Because the fourth tone is descending (`, it goes down) and she believed it would bring bad luck to the baby.
Another problem for Chinese parents when choosing a name is that it is difficult to avoid that there are a hundred kids, or more, with the exact same name as your child. In China there are not many surnames (Wikipedia has the list of the 100 most common Chinese surnames, which account for 85% of the population in China) and now everybody wants to be unique and original, so Chinese parents have to put their brains (and dictionaries) to work and find not-so-common characters to give their baby an exclusive name. There are people who have such unusual characters in their names that they can’t be written on the computer.
But I digress. What I wanted to write about today was about the English names Chinese people choose. These names are not only used in school, but also during their professional life. Even in purely Chinese companies, people like using their English names in their e-mail addresses and signatures; they also print business cards with their English name on it (business cards in China usually have two printed sides, one in Chinese and one in English).
It seems some Chinese people didn’t pay much attention to their English lessons, or maybe they didn’t follow their English studies after their compulsory school subject. Those might be the reasons some people choose names that are peculiar, to say the least.
So these are the weirdest English names that I have come across in China:
– Banana. Well, Banana was supposed to be a Spanish name (we also say banana in Spanish). She was a Chinese girl who studied Spanish in Beijing Foreign Studies University and was looking for a language exchange. My friend Anna and I tried to convince her to change it but she thought it was a cool name. There is a song in Spanish that says “the only love fruit is the banana” (am I the only one seeing the sexual connotations?) and we couldn’t stop singing it. And there’s also the fact that “banana” can be used to describe a person that looks Asian (yellow) on the outside but it is Western (white) on the inside (for example, an American born Chinese).
– Demon. Demon was a girl from Sichuan that I met in Taiwan. She even uses Demon as her nickname in Wechat. I wonder who fooled her to choose that name, because she couldn’t speak a word of English.
– Calaja. He is a new guy in my company. What kind of name is Calaja? Is it a bastardization of Callahan? Did he make it up himself?
– Hermit. Hermit was a salesman (or woman, I have no idea) from some company and s/he sent me an e-mail with a business proposal. I didn’t know hermits had internet access in their caves in the mountains!
– Mr. Abalon. He included “mr” in his e-mail signature, maybe to let people know that he was a man. I guess Mr. Abalon likes eating seafood, as the only thing I can think of that might have inspired his name is 鲍鱼, which is translated as abalone in the English menus of Chinese restaurants.
There is a video from Sexy Beijing about this topic:
The reporter asks random people in the street if they have English names or not, and she finds very unusual names, like Samanfar (“it sounds better than Samantha”) or Smacker. The video is very entertaining, not only because of the replies she gets but also because it looks kind of old, even though it was filmed just 8 years ago. But there are some things that haven’t changed in Beijing’s summer, like the old guys with the rolled up shirts showing their bellies!
Have you met any Chinese people with unusual English names? You can leave a comment and tell us about it!
i’ve come across some really funny names; loads of Yoyo’s and Cherries, a Risako (?!), Demo, Sunky, Bear…those are the ones that spring to mind but for sure there are more. One time i had a student who told me her name was Victoria. I wrote it on the board, and she told me i spelled it wrong. I rubbed the name out and asked her how it was spelled; she said ‘v-e-r-a’. Vera! spelled ‘Vera’, pronounced ‘Victoria’. She was around ten years old so i guess her spelling just wasn’t up to scratch.
Hahahaha! Hilarious! I would love to know how the heck she arrived to “victoria” from “vera”.
it’s kinda funny because in HK slang abalon means female private parts XD
Well in Mandarin I think it can also mean that… now Mr Abalon has me confused hahaha.
Haha, even in South Africa, I’ve come across my fair share of funny names! I have met brothers whose names are Fast and Quick. lol. I’ve also met my fair share of Yoyos and Cherries haha. I’ve come across a “Pan”, “Warrior”, “Apple”, “Keevin” (Yes, Keevin… not Kevin). And oddly enough, I once had a classmate named “Big” and his last name was “Wang”. Looking back, it was quite funny haha.
Oddly enough, the majority of Asian guys that I know are named either Andy, Daniel, Derek, William or Harry! haha. Quite strange to be honest! And as for the girls, the names seem quite dispersed.
Big Wang? hahaha!
I love the Sexy Beijing videos. It’s a pity she stopped making these. The funniest name I’ve heard was cockroach.
Cockroach?? Couldn’t he/she find anything more disgusting? :D
I am aware of a guy who calls himself “Lovin.” We can all dream, I guess.
Wasn’t there a movie with a character called McLovin? hahaha!
I’ve met LOTS of Chinese people with interesting English names. Pain, Kite, and Smile are some examples. And then you meet people who give themselves really uncommon English names like Truman. I think it’s great. Haha.
Pain? Kite? Smile? OMG! Ah, Sunny seems to be a common name also.
People with real-but-uncommon-names I just can think of Terence… it is not a common English name, right?
My wife knows a girl named Mellow. It fits her personally well. Haha. I think Sunny is a really popular English name for Korean girls, too. :D
You’re right – Terence isn’t an especially common English name.
I remember this video from my first Chinese class 4 years ago :D
But yes, there are so many weird English names in China, it is just amazing how they can come up with those. Thank god we didnt need a professional baby namer as my wife just came up with his CHinese name after he was born 逸然 Yiran. Besides that name he has a English first name and as a third name a Finnish one (so I bet he has a pretty unique name!)
So how many names appear in his passport??
Three names plus his family name :)
So many random Chinese names. People really need a native speaker before choosing a name. I could never trust myself to choose a Chinese name without help.
I’ve heard Rhinoceros, Rainbow, Dragon, many Tigers… (lotta animals, guess it works in Chinese)
Oh and great Princess Bride reference. Love it! I just rewatched as a matter of fact~
Haha! I have watched it just once, and with a guy named Iñigo! But I knew that line before actually watching the movie. I will ask tonight my bf if he has watched it (probably not, so that’s a plan for tonight).
Fruit Chan always sticks in my mind – Hong Kong kinda indie director who made a number of very interesting and definitely away from the middle films.
Ooooh yes! I watched Three Extremes, interesting dumplings hahaha.
Buah tía! Ni que lo digas, ni siquiera llegué a pronunciar bien mi nombre chino, o era demasiado raro (ya me dijeron los chinos que era un mal nombre), y siempre se pensaban que me había puesto el nombre de no sé qué horrorosa cantante melódica.
Qué fue de sexy Beijing? Ya no hacen más vídeos, no?
Parece que lo ha dejado, sí!
Reading this reminds me of my boyfriend . His English name is Joss ( really rare name to me ) and his Chinese name is 万钧 ( even more rare ) . I’m quite ashamed that most of the times we talk , I don’t even call my boyfriend by his real name . It’s mainly because I still have trouble pronouncing his Chinese name ! However , I am still practicing and getting used to it . I want to make sure that when I tell him I love him or something , that I truly address him by his real name and just not the nickname he chose to fit in to Western society . I want to love 万钧,not only Joss . (:
That is sweet! But don’t worry too much, I’m sure you can say his name well enough! Or if not, you can call him “hubby” (老公 laogong), haha.
I used to know a Chinese guy names Weekend, guess that was his favorite part of the week! And today I met a young Chinese girl names Wish, very interesting.
I had a lot of strange ones when I taught high school oral English but my favorites were Summer Snow and Green Lemon ( a lime?).
I met a girl named Someday. Hey Someday! Maybe Someday and Weekend up there can get together and have a kid named Everyday.
I have a friend named Viking – great man’s name. Macho, easy to remember and just the right amount of China weird.
The strangest names I’ve ever heard I ran accross when I used to lead university students on a study abroad trip to rural China to teach English. We had a group of students who had formed a “band”. The band’s name was Some Band (great name). The members name were Some Clould, Some Rain, Some Meat, Some People and (I think) Chris. They were our favorite students.
How dared Chris to choose such a common name?!
In the Shenzhen office of my company we have an Ice and a Cloud, and of course a Sunny…
I just love the Princess Bride reference! LOVE it!
So growing up Ive always been in AMWF relationships, in one now. I didn’t think this was somehow weird until I moved from Canada to the US. So it’s fascinating for me to read your blog.
Thanks a lot, TK! :)
Fun fact: the first time I watched Princess Bride it was with a guy called Iñigo, hahaha.
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In Thailand I met several kids with the nick name “Pepsi”. As a loyal Coke fan I would always treat them harshly.
In China, I met a kid without an English name and his mom suggested I help him find one. So, I chatted with this kids for a few minutes and discovered he loved Ironman. So now his English name is “Tony Stark”. Yes, the whole thing, yes, every time.
Bwahaha! It’s a bit better than Michael Jackson, which seems to be a common name :P