Interesting English names used by Chinese survey
xiaophil
February 18, 2010 at 12:09 AM posted in General DiscussionAs most of us know, Chinese people often adopt an English name to facilitate communication with foreigners (e.g. Jenny Zhu, Connie, etc.). Simon's interesting post on user names has inspired me to ask y'all, what are some interesting English names used by Chinese people that you have encountered?
bababardwan
February 25, 2010 at 01:19 PM
Is that short for "Control Alt Delete"?
..You'd be great to have in the Mafia game discussed in todays lesson.
simonpettersson
February 25, 2010 at 10:21 AM
'Enter' is a pretty horrible name if you're a woman … Although I guess it's better than the more graphic 'Insert'. I think 'Shift' would be a badass name, though. Sounds like a superhero.
orangina
February 20, 2010 at 01:06 PM
Today I met a girl named Fish. I asked her why she chose this name. She said it was because they say a fish has a 7 second memory, and she wanted to be able to quickly forget bad things and be happy.
Ignoring the dangers of this kind of happiness, I told her I liked her name, but did she understand no one in America would have this as a real name? She did seem to understand but it is just a nickname anyway.
She is hoping to be a lawyer or a counselor someday... I wonder if she will still be Fish?
kimiik
February 20, 2010 at 03:57 PM
Hi Orangina,
As a lawyer or counselor, she would just be considered a fan of Richard Fish (from the Ally McBeal Sitcom). ;o)
I guess "biscuit" could also be used as an english name by a fan of Ally Mc Beal.
xiaophil
February 20, 2010 at 12:16 AM
I thought of a new one. I know a middle-aged musician. His favorite composer is Pagini, so he chose that as his English name. The problem is that Chinese people have a lot of trouble pronouncing it, so in the end, he tells everyone to call him...
Mr. P
A few of us want to tell him that might not be the best thing to be called, but since he has been using it for years, we don't have the heart to tell him.
aiqingpingshen
February 20, 2010 at 12:43 PM
O...thnx.
I knew the verb 'to pee'. Just didn't realise that name share the same pronunciation with it.
:D
aiqingpingshen
February 18, 2010 at 11:25 PM
It's amazing to be able to have whatever you want as your name. You just name yourself after someone you admire or something you are interested in, willy-nilly.
It's very common to use the names of sport stars or film (PC game) characters. A friend of mine adopted "Lucifer" as his English name since he is a DOTA fan.
The names you may find funny:
Kobe (or something like michael Jordan);
Undead;
Scofield;
Smash (My personal favorite).
Tal
February 20, 2010 at 02:02 AM
It might amuse you to know that when Wolf first told me his name, I thought he was saying 'Worf', and that's what I called him for several weeks until I saw his name written down on a piece of writing he'd done. He didn't seem to notice, (or mind!)
Here's Worf, for those who don't see why it's funny. 呵呵，你们大家都知道我舍不得错过机会说起这个克林贡话题呢！
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xiaophil
February 20, 2010 at 12:10 AM
Wow, Ghost and Wolf... those are two sweet names. I would gladly call them by those names.
Tal
February 19, 2010 at 01:30 AM
That reminds me, I had a 'Ghost', (male), and his best friend was 'Wolf' (also male)!
bababardwan
February 19, 2010 at 12:05 AM
hehe,I love "undead"...must be the life of the party.Reminds me somehow of weekend at Bernies.
helandou
February 18, 2010 at 09:04 PM
btw, my name didn't become helandou... ;) I just let my teacher pick one and she came up with 'kai lun'. When I pronounce it it doesn't sound at all like Karen, but Chinese people come closer :)
helandou
February 18, 2010 at 09:00 PM
Ok, then I'll tell you an embarrassing thing about me picking a Chinese name during one of the first Chinese classes I took. I wanted a name that sounded like my real name, which is Karen, but that also meant something (like almost all Chinese names do). There was almost nothing I could find, except from 'ke ren' which means 'guest'. I thought this would be nice as China was my 'guest country' (in Dutch you can say this about a country that you live in for some time other than your own country). But when I explained this to my teacher she said: 'So you want people to believe you are their guest the whole time, do you?' That sunk in.. When I thought about it: It would be strange to meet a Chinese person whose English name is Guest, with or without explanation...
vuthilan_honglong
February 18, 2010 at 02:37 PM
triplestone! i think that was a direct translation of his chinese name, ha ha.
Tal
February 18, 2010 at 02:28 PM
When I first came to China I always just let them keep any dumb name they wanted, and was slightly appalled at the strictness of other teachers who made them choose 'proper' English names. In my first year I had a Bamboo (male), 2 Tigers (one of each sex), and an assortment of flowers (all female, I notice Chinese girls like to go for flower names.)
As time has gone by I've come to think it's actually better to discourage them from absurd names, (by which I mean names that no person could get away with having in a western country, except perhaps as some kind of 'amusing' nickname.) Many of course refuse to be dissuaded, however you try to explain it to them.
One girl called herself 'Cigar'. There was just no way I could address her as this, but she wouldn't change it because she had chosen this word carefully for the similarity in sound to her Chinese name. I had to settle for Sig in the end.
Then there was a 'Cigarette', (female), and an 'Entrance', (also female). I'm not kidding either. And that was around the time when I both started to put a lot more effort into learning the Chinese names of the stubborn ones and began my new classes with a little speech about how/why names are chosen in western culture and the importance of choosing appropriate ones. The penny simply never drops with many however, even when I try to put my foot down, so this year I had a Fantasy (male), Ruler (male), Banana (female), and an 'English Name' (male). Not sure why I let that last one get away with it actually.
xiaophil
February 20, 2010 at 12:13 AM
I had a banana this year. I noticed a tendency. The more ridiculous a person's English name is, the more likely the student isn't really that good at studying. Again, only a tendency...
zhenlijiang
February 18, 2010 at 04:53 PM
ha haha. I do enjoy your column Tal's Tales of Fatalism -- What Life in China Taught Me --
helandou
February 18, 2010 at 01:41 PM
I had a Chinese colleague who introduced herself as 'Nothing'. Another colleague's 'english' name was 'Stylo'. A schoolmate called herself 'Chocolate'.
I found a preference by the way for girlsnames that ended on y, like Sunny, Maggy and Jenny. I think this has something to do with the fact that those names sound 'girlish', which is what a lot of Chinese girls/women like. Men just go for the common names like Michael, Steven and Jason.
changye
February 18, 2010 at 02:44 PM
Hi helandou
The Chinese guy who calls himself "nothing" might be a 道士 (Daoist priest), hehe.
kimiik
February 18, 2010 at 08:34 AM
I told him it will do wonders on an application for a job in a foreign firm if he could work a bit more on his look (he had a little mustache). ;o)
changye
February 18, 2010 at 07:52 AM
I hear some nationalistic Chinese guys stupidly insist that 中国 should be called "zhongguo", but not "China" (etc.), in the internationally society. On the other hand, interestingly enough, some Chinese are happy to use an English name on the Internet. Starting today, please call me "John Smith", OK?
chrisheilong79
February 19, 2010 at 12:32 AM
China smack had a story about the Zhong guo being used in english thing a while ago and where they think the word China came from. Never came accross that myself.
changye
February 18, 2010 at 08:10 AM
Furthermore, they have to learn how to say all the country names in the world based on local pronunciations, hehe.
xiaophil
February 18, 2010 at 08:00 AM
Fair enough, if they stop saying měiguó when speaking Chinese，I will start saying zhōngguó when speaking English.
xiaophil
February 18, 2010 at 06:53 AM
I forgot to mention something above. Another phenomena I have encountered is an English name that is almost a real English name. I don't know why, but I have had at least three student's named Jessical. Where that 'l' come from, I have no idea.
zhenlijiang
February 18, 2010 at 10:45 AM
OK -al words are nouns and adjective-nouns too (sabbatical, mural, moral, coral, cereal, serial etc etc). Jessical could be a noun-ification of Jessica. It's an interesting and unexpected development in any case.
zhenlijiang
February 18, 2010 at 07:45 AM
It looks like an arrangement on the conventional western name, turned into an adjective I guess, like one of those rapper/artist names I hear of sometimes in Japan--"Chemical", "Verbal".
Hey Chinese guys, want to give us some insight?
orangina
February 18, 2010 at 07:40 AM
I met a Reddy. She made it up herself. It took me a while to figure out it was a diminutive of Red, and not "ready" or in homage to Helen Reddy. So props for creativity, not so great on clarity of meaning.
xiaophil
February 18, 2010 at 06:56 AM
Yeah, she should definitely not change that. I dig the ancient Latin, Greek, Syrian, Persian--you name it names. (Although, it does sound a bit like Xenophobia.)
xiaophil
February 18, 2010 at 12:14 AM
Okay, I'll start. Here are my favorites:
- Mad Eagle
- Big Camel
- Bacteria
- Best
- Lucifer
Additionally, I have also encountered many Chinese who use Japanese names for their English names, and when I tell them that using a Japanese name as an English name is missing the point, they are often a bit indigent about it. When the Korean singer Rain was was hot in China, I met numerous Chinese that shared the same name. I have found a few boys using girls names and vice versa. There has been no shortage of boys naming themselves after NBA stars. One student named himself after the Brazilian soccer player, Kaka, but I'm sorry, I don't want to call someone 'caca'. Finally, I have met many Chinese people that can't even spell their English name. I can sympathize, because I sometimes have to stop and think how to write my Chinese name.
xiaophil
February 18, 2010 at 05:25 PM
Funny you should say that. I was in a new wave-esque band for about 7 years. Actually, I was the only member. I used to be far into Devo and Kraftwerk, and as well various other synthesizer loaded groups. Oh wait... Chinese... yeah... haha.
zhenlijiang
February 18, 2010 at 05:13 PM
Yuki 我不知道, all that means to me is a popular and commonly-encountered female or male Japanese name. 反正，过时有什么不好？你还是年轻，呵呵。我一点都不感觉不好意思哦。最近房间里整天放的是70~80年代的 synthesizer music (new wave, technopop)！
bababardwan
February 18, 2010 at 11:46 AM
我最喜欢这个名字“bacteria”。I'd love to see him being introduced to a whole lotta new folk,and watch their reactions as he went to shake their hands.
"Let me introduce you to bacteria"..hand extended.
Would he be warmly welcomed at hot pot,fondue,etc?
Imagine him introducing himself at an obsessive compulsive self help group [esp a group of germophobes]
I'd encourage more names in this vain..how about plague,swineflu,pestilence,contagion,outbreak,bubonic,anthrax?
xiaophil
February 18, 2010 at 07:58 AM
I can only remember Yuki, which I'm sure is a famous person or Japanime character or something or another. I really feel embarrassed that I don't know anything at all about what is popular in any country right now and for the past five years, often including America, 我太过时了。
xiaophil
February 18, 2010 at 07:52 AM
This is an old lesson on Internet slang:
http://chinesepod.com/lessons/internet-slang
But actually, I don't think it will answer your question. Perhaps you will find it interesting anyway.
xiaoxiaotom
February 18, 2010 at 07:47 AM
thanks. but I guess there must be a internet friendly abbreviation for BTW?? Any 网虫 (ie internet aficionados) around??
zhenlijiang
February 18, 2010 at 07:39 AM
あっまだでしったけ？明けましておめでとうございます！ Yes I'm rather busy these days, probably will be busy quite a bit past CNY. I wish I were studying more but really came up here today to take a little break.
zhenlijiang
February 18, 2010 at 07:19 AM
I'm guessing for many people the names they choose to take are aspirational in some way (yeah I know, try explaining Bacteria based on that); it's not hard to see why they might be a bit shy to talk about how they wanted to re-invent their identities. Your mention of people adopting Japanese names (wonder which ones??) as their "other name"--it's certainly not western if it's Japanese--reminded me, it's quite possible Lucifer had been arrived at via some Japanese glam-boy band or manga character, something of that sort.
xiaophil
February 18, 2010 at 06:44 AM
I think you can say 顺便提一下. Perhaps somebody out there can verify that.
xiaoxiaotom
February 18, 2010 at 06:39 AM
a nice name I recently encountered - even written on her namecard: "Rainbow"! Sometimes I think we in the West really put too strict a limit on the names we give to ourselves :)
orangina
February 18, 2010 at 06:21 AM
I grew up with a girl who's step brother's name was Foot. Granted it is a hippie community. There were a few kids running around with unconventional names, but that one stands out.
bababardwan
February 18, 2010 at 06:00 AM
hehe,maybe their main exposure to Westerners choosing baby names has been through Hollywood celebs,so who could blame them from jumping to that conclusion?
xiaophil
February 18, 2010 at 05:56 AM
Exactly, I think maybe some of them don't realize that Westerners don't just willy-nilly make up a name.
xiaophil
February 18, 2010 at 05:56 AM
Exactly, I think maybe some of them don't realize that Westerners don't just willy-nilly make up a name.
xiaophil
February 18, 2010 at 05:56 AM
Exactly, I think maybe some of them don't realize that Westerners don't just willy-nilly make up a name.
bababardwan
February 18, 2010 at 05:51 AM
The interesting thing I've noticed is that while Western names do have meanings associated with them,in the main people would have to look them up in baby name books to find out what the meaning is as generally they are not words used in everyday speech,whereas it seems to me that Chinese names often do have everyday usage,so it may seem more natural to pick names that have such meanings.
xiaophil
February 18, 2010 at 05:47 AM
Zhen,
I think I did ask them all except Lucifer, and when they seemed a little hesitant, I decided not to push them. As their teacher, I don't want to unintentionally embarrass them, i.e. make them lose face.
I do remember the reason Best chose his name. He told me it was his intention to be the best. He had lots of ambition but honestly not exceptional ability (although better than average). It was his way to psych himself up. I respected that.
changye
February 18, 2010 at 02:34 AM
Hi zhenlijiang
What's been up with you? Are you recently busy due to "Chinese New Year"? Anyway, let me greet you from China, 旧正月、明けましておめでとうございます！
zhenlijiang
February 18, 2010 at 01:53 AM
xiaophil
February 18, 2010 at 12:34 AM
I have met all except Lucifer. When I was doing training at Philips Electric, one of my students said, "We have a colleague who calls himself Lucifer. Is that appropriate?" I almost burst out laughing, but I tried to stay professional. I said, "Probably not the best name. Some religious people might not like that."
I'm a teacher, so I don't know if the students used these out of class, but they definitely insisted on using them in class.
bababardwan
February 18, 2010 at 12:24 AM
...so you have actually encountered these personally xiaophil?..and were they using them formally [天啊] as names,or more as nicknames amongst mates?
ousijia
February 25, 2010 at 09:51 AMI met someone called 'Enter', and when I asked them where they had got their name from, they replied 'from a computer keyboard'! I suppose 'Enter' is better then 'shift, delete or page up...'!