Naming Second Generation Kids

[nerveandmuscle]

I was reading a thread in the learning Chinese section of the forums and there was a mention of giving 2nd generation children Anglicized (or the local language) names instead of Chinese names. The most common form being American first name, Chinese middle name, Chinese last name.

From personal experience, I know very few 2 or higher generation Chinese Americans who weren't given English names. Yet the opposite is true of the Indian (Asian) Americans. Other than those whose families are Chrisitan, all of their parents stuck with Indian first and middle names. These names weren't the easiest to pronounce either.

While there are many Christian Chinese, that alone can't quite account for the difference in name selection.

What do you guys think? Why are Chinese parents naming their kids this way? Why aren't Indian parents? Have you observed phenomenon as well?

[wiz_oz]

Could be many reasons for this but I presume most stem from the problems faced a generation or so ago.

One is that Chinese names has the family name before the given name. Over here (in Oz) we are still facing problems. For eg Wang Chee Meng will be called Mr Meng formally which is not quite right. And his given name is Chee Meng not Chee or Meng. As such many chose to write their name as Chee-Meng Wang to avoid much confusion. (The (-)stops Chee and Meng from being separated or that he becomes Chee M Wang.

Some Chinese names sound quite nice in Chinese but when written in English, could be a disaster. More so in a country like Malaysia where a third language (Malay) comes into play. For eg I have a friend called Chen So Tong (or So Tong Chen). Guess what, sotong is squid in Malay.

To avoid all this , many just adopt a western name. The practice could just become more accepted as time goes by.

[owshawng]

Our son is going to grow up in a western country, but he is still half Taiwanese and we wanted him to learn chinese and be in touch and proud of his asian heritage. Because of this we gave him a western first name and a chinese middle name. Other Chinese and Taiwanese in the US and OZ have given us similiar reasons for giving their children a western first name and a Chinese middle name.

[WilsonFong]

i've always wondered the same thing as well, and although i don't have any answer as to why this is the case, my guess is that due to tones and the differences in pronounciation, chinese names just don't sound that great in english.

on a slightly different note, one thing i've noticed is that many chinese parents in North America give their children names that are generally used as surnames (e.g. Johnson, Wilson, Collins etc), and/or names that are dysllabic and rhyme with "ee" that are typically nicknames of other names (e.g. Jimmy, Billy, Ricky, instead of James, William and Richard respectively). does anyone else notice this?

[nerveandmuscle]

I've seen the phenomenon described by WilsonFong. I know a Gim and a Ted (actual given names).

Aren't names in Japan and Korea also family name then given name in order? Does anyone know how these ethnic groups have fared in terms of naming their kids?

Do some Chinese people call others affectionately by their given names? In most situations in the US people go either by their given name or are called Mr./Ms. last name. I'm not sure the whole last name flipped thing is that much of a problem. Though there would be difficulty telling given names and last names appart if both names were Chinese. However the American trend in naming kids seemed to have produced many populargirls' first names that were formerly only last names like Morgan, Mackinzie, and Madison.

Parents can only do so much with given names when the family name is Ho, Zhang, Xu, or Xiao ...

[skylee]

Aren't names in Japan and Korea also family name then given name in order?

And how about Hungary?

[RobAnt]

Some Chinese names sound quite nice in Chinese but when written in English, could be a disaster. More so in a country like Malaysia where a third language (Malay) comes into play. For eg I have a friend called Chen So Tong (or So Tong Chen). Guess what, sotong is squid in Malay.

To avoid all this , many just adopt a western name. The practice could just become more accepted as time goes by.

I don't think this argument stands up very well, actually.

For all I know "Robert" means "dogs left testicle" in Zulu, but do I care? Not really. My parents never bothered to check what names mean in a foreign language either! Incidentally, I'm English.

And to suggest that western cultures don't understand the concept of family name followed by personal names isn't true either. All the official forms I've completed provide separate boxes and are not concerned in what order they're actually written. Similarly, if you tell me your name is So-Tong, then I take it as being so (although I might giggle childishly if it sounded like "dogs-left-testicle").

In Britain, anyway, we also have a concept of "nicknames" - shorty, lefty, skinny, dozzy, etc. I might never know a friends real name! Does Chinese culture also embrace nicknames?

[rose~]

Hello Nerveandmuscle!

It's a very interesting point about the difference in naming between British Asians (which usually means of Indian or Pakistani origin in the UK) and British Chinese people.

Because when I read your point, I realised you were exactly right, even the idea that a British person of Indian/Pakistani origin would take an "English name" seems laughable, almost ludicrous, when I read it. I guess I grew up with people called Mohit, Sanjay and Asif, etc.

But when I think about it, anyone with Chinese roots did have an "English name".

Maybe it is a self-fulfilling prophecy, if no-one uses original Chinese names, then the names are not familiar to people.

Or maybe it is indicative of discrimination? Sometimes it seems Chinese people are kind of "invisible" in the media in the UK.

[mind_wander]

In my opinion in the US, in why Chinese names are used and not used here.

1) Is to be able to differeniated the names easier by using an English name, so don't have so many confusion.

2) Also, some chinese parents uses the traditional Chinese names, to able show their Asian heritage.

I know it is very difficult to pronounce traditional Chinese names, when a teacher reads the list, and often mispronounce it. This in results, to harioulous laughter in the class, this happens maybe once in class. As, I don't have this problem, since both English first and last name is easy to pronounce.

[Jake Perry]

i have friends in the US who say

that having a black sounding

first or last name will ensure

your resumé goes to the bottom.