| I disagree with Nirmalya greatly. She has a certain perspective because her own name is not very "Western". It's not just the Chinese who choose to have a more Western name if they do business or associate with the International world. All the Eastern European immigrants Americanized or Anglozied their names into a combination that's much more easily digested by Americans or Western European. The Jews did it. The Greeks do it. Why shouldn't the Chinese do it as well?
I went to the US as a toddler, so my name is completely English. Only my family/surname is Chinese because of my family heritage but both my first and middle name is very English. It makes it so much easier for everyone involved to pronounce my name. There are a lot of African Americans who are choosing to use extremely weird names which I can't pronounce. What is the point? Just to drive the point home that they are different? in JSW case, where he is a Chinese citizen, I can understand his desire to keep his Chinese name, but for Chinese who immigrant to other western countries where English is the primary language, I would highly suggest they legally change their name to something the natives of that country can easily digest. No point in purposely making oneself stand out like a sore thumb. |
Why I Don't Have an English Name