My Fuken Chinese Name

[liuzhou]

Another thread reminded me of this.

 

19 years ago, I was in Xi'an studying Chinese and our teacher, a beautiful woman, allocated everyone Chinese names. What she gave me was 傅恳 fù kěn. 

 

Hilarity ensued among my co-students.

 

"What 's your fookin' name?"

 

I have never used it. For obvious reasons.

 

My real given name, Ken, is easy for Chinese speakers and that is all I ever use.

 

Although, a bit later later, one moron in Hunan would arrive at my apartment and be too lazy to climb to the second floor, so would stand downstairs shouting "Kunt! Kunt!" over and over again. I never answered him,. For obvious reasons.

[Shelley]

that has put a smile on my face for the morning, thanks

[lechuan]

Do you also have a name in Fukienese?

[studychinese]

I have been thinking 中村 for my family name. Any problem with that?

[Pokarface]

        I can't think of much to write, but that was funny.      

[jbradfor]

When I was first "allocated" a name, one character the teacher picked for me was 福.  Pronounced in Cantonese like "fok".  If that's not bad enough, my then-girlfriend-now-wife said 福 is a common name for dogs in Hong Kong.

 

I quickly asked for a new one.

[anonymoose]

You can call yourself 肯·弗莱切

[Angelina]

Try Ken Lee. 

 

Do you want a Chinese name though? I don't have a real Chinese name. It would be strange to choose a name yourself. 

[liuzhou]

Well, Ken Lee wouldn't be a Chinese name, would it? 

 

No, as I explained, my real name is fine. I don't need or want a Chinese name. I've managed to survive in China for 20 years without one. 

I have a perfectly adequate name. Got it from my parents.

 

 

You can call yourself 肯·弗莱切

 

Not in a million years. If I did want a Chinese name, which I don't, I'd want a real one. That is just gibberish.

[Angelina]

Sure. 

[dwq]

中村 is a common Japanese surname but not a Chinese one.

[lingo-ling]

I have been thinking 中村 for my family name. Any problem with that?

Nakamura is Japanese surname, not a Chinese one.

[studychinese]

Which is why I asked if there is any problem with that, LOL.

 

[bTW, can someone show me the code for quoting on this thing?]

[imron]

There's a button that looks like a speech bubble (underneath 'My Media' on the toolbar that adds quote tags.  Alternatively you can type them yourself:

 

[ quote ] My quote [ /quote ] gives

My quote

[studychinese]

 

 

There's a button that looks like a speech bubble (underneath 'My Media' on the toolbar that adds quote tags.  Alternatively you can type them yourself:

 

Cheers.

[dnevets]

I wonder how many users (non-native learners of Chinese) of this forum have a "Chinese" name, and what percentage of them actually use the name. I remember spending some time deliberating over what mine should be, and at the time it seemed terribly important, but I don't think I've ever needed or even wanted to use it.

 

I've noticed that on Linkedin most (all?) of my connections that have some 'China experience' have their actual name followed by their chosen Chinese name... which irritates me a bit. What's it for? Hey look at me, I know Chinese? (Well, haven't you detailed that in your profile anyway?)

 

Similarly, I don't really see the point of Chinese people choosing an "English name". What's it for, other than making life slightly easier for the lazy foriegners that can't be bothered to learn your actual name?

[Lu]

I have a Chinese name and I use it. My Dutch name is long and cumbersome, especially for non-Dutch. My Chinese name is short and easy, people can understand it right away, call me by it, etc. It also comes in handy for restaurant reservations over the phone and such. Although the only time I really *needed* a Chinese name was when I was working for a company in Taiwan that needed it for their employee registration system.

English names have many uses. One is making things easier for foreigners. Personally I prefer calling me by a name they can pronounce and that I have picked myself over people butchering my real name, and I imagine the same goes for many Chinese. But in addition, English names are a shortcut around the question of how to address people: should I call this friend-of-a-friend 先生? 同志? 小王? 老李? 经理? You can just call him Bill and everyone's happy.

[imron]

Personally I prefer calling me by a name they can pronounce and that I have picked myself over people butchering my real name

This is why after two years in China without a Chinese name, I finally decided to get a Chinese name.

 

What's it for, other than making life slightly easier for the lazy foriegners that can't be bothered to learn your actual name?

It's not that people are lazy, it's just that often it's not feasible to spend time required to learn to correctly pronounce sounds that possibly don't exist in your native language.  I say this as someone who has a first name composed of two sounds that don't exist in Mandarin.  I certainly don't think a Chinese person is lazy if they don't speak any English and aren't prepared to spend possibly hours learning to say my name correctly - especially if their interaction with me is minimal.

 

I imagine the same is true for many Chinese people who chose an English name.

[OneEye]

My Chinese name is 仁約翰. It's weird. I can't tell you how many times people have told me 「姓仁的人很少」 but I chose it because it's similar to my last name. I've also been told it makes me sound like "either a missionary or someone who doesn't know Chinese but needed a Chinese name for some reason." But both the Taiwanese government and the university I went to have it in their computer system, not to mention it's all over the government paperwork we had to file when founding Outlier. So I'm kinda stuck with it, unless I want to go through the painful process of changing it.

 

My friends all just call me John, and I only really go by 約翰 when speaking with professors. However, I've found that when putting my name on a waiting list at a restaurant, for instance, if I say John they'll call me 張先生, so sometimes I'm a 張.

[liuzhou]

 

Similarly, I don't really see the point of Chinese people choosing an "English name". What's it for, other than making life slightly easier for the lazy foriegners that can't be bothered to learn your actual name?

 

Most Chinese students of English (and others) that I've met enjoy having "English names". They do it for fun - not for the benefit of lazy foreigners. They use the names among themselves when there are no foreigners around.