You are not Chinese therefore you can not use my Chinese name...

[Vivi MENG]

Different people have different reasons I guess. You have to ask them by yourself. 

For me, I told my friend to call me my English name just because I have predicted that they wouldn't enjoy pronouncing "Zi"(3rd tone). So why bother?

[Alex Whiteman]

I know this is not exactly the most elevated answer. . . but, here in China, the two or three Chinese guys who were stubborn and uptight about their real names were little dorks - who also happened to want something from me and didn't get it. This is people that go all stiff and blurt out something like "Johnny" with horrible pronunciation. . . they are telling you their name but you feel they are seething with anger for some reason. . .  and when you ask again they interrupt you with an attitude that's saying "piss off, you wouldn't get my Chinese name anyway".

Oh. . . incidentally. . . but I never knew the guy directly. . . back home there was some manager from Singapore who blew his top at a secretary because she tried to use his real name for something instead of mickeymouse or whatever was that he wanted to be called. . .


I have Chinese friends who prefer to use their English name, and some who don't even know each other by their real name - but they are cool about you asking them their Chinese name. So that's fine with me.


The reason why I have a Chinese name is because my full name is something like 16 syllables long that gives Chinese administrative employees a lot of problems, not just practical, but apparently also philosophical or even emotional - because a name just cannot be that long and how-come-it-is-when-it-cannot-be. Also the transliteration of my first name is 4 characters long and sounds awful. Conversely, I don't think a Chinese name can represent a paradigm problem for a westerner (other than getting the pronunciation right) - so I'm not sure I see the need for XiaoWang to insist that his name is "Leonardo".

Most Chinese people are very comfortable using my Chinese name and it seems to have simplified a lot of things - so it does fulfill a purpose.

Incidentally, I use the English translation of my name with English speakers (Chinese or Western) because they also struggle with the original pronunciation of my name. If they inquire, I explain the situation and so far I've managed to get most people to just choose either Chinese/English alternative. . . but I don't go about glaring, pressing my lips, clenching my fists. . . no need to get angry.

[hedwards]

I tend to appreciate people like that because it means that I have to develop my ear for the language and the ability to properly pronounce the syllables in the name. Now, it might be more about ego, but I tend to take that as an opportunity to practice those particular Chinese sounds.

 

Also, there's a matter of respect about trying to properly pronounce the name that they want you to use. I don't personally like my given name and I never use it, so I expect that people won't use it after I've politely requested them not to.