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Q: Why are Chinese so keen to have an English name? Isn't that a culture-cramp?
More and more Chinese are choosing an English name. What is more, they do believe that it is their name and they would introduce themselves to foreigners under that English name unless you insist in having their Chinese name.
I don't think, Wang, Lin, Zhang, etc are that difficult to spell. It is your identity, your real one, itcarries your culture, your customs, your story, your family, your LIFE!. Unless you got an English name at birth like many Hong Kongers, I don't really see the point. Legally, especially in business where you stamp a Proforma with your English name that exists nowhere on your official documents, is troublesome and could lead to forgery in a lawful country. I believe China is a lawful country. Am I wrong? Hit me back on track please.
11 years 21 weeks ago in Business & Jobs - China
Some of the names are hard to say. Especially for people who have never learned any Chinese.
I also heard that Americans trust a Wendy more than a Si, but if it is true I don't know.
I remember seeing a discussion about this before on this site, so try to do a search.
"I believe China is a lawful country"
As in, belief in the rule of law? I believe China is firmly in the category of the 'rule of man' rather than 'rule of law'. The law is made and followed insofar as it is convienent, but not much more than that. I could be wrong however, and would welcome alternative perspectives. As for the name discussion, I remember substitute teachers in my American high school mispronouncing names such as Daniel, Jose, and Stephen. So I wouldn't blame anyone for using an English name for informal purposes. It is a good idea however to stick to your official name on paperwork.
Wang, Lin, and Zhang may not be difficult to spell, but are you confident you can pronounce them correctly...proper initial, final, and tone? Some Chinese names are more difficult than others especially for those of us with western tongues, and can be quite close in pronunciation to words you don't want to be calling them. For example, my boss's good friend is Mr Zhu (2nd tone). But if you mistakenly call him Zhu (1st tone) xian sheng, you basically just called him Mr Pig.
Adopting a western name makes sense for a lot of Chinese folks, especially those frequently dealing with foreigners.
As a Spanish guy who has lived a few years in UK, I can definitely see the advantage of having an English name. I had to repeat and spell my name nearly every time I was introduced to someone while in UK.
It is also positive when doing business. Not having an English name makes the persons talking to you uncomfortable because they do not know if they are pronouncing your name correctly, and that can make a meeting more tense.
Not to mention that most people will have a hard time to remember your name fast if it is in a language that they don't understand, even it it is a simple name.
I can tell you,It's not we want to have an English name badly. it's having an English name is easy for western people to remember and say it easily.Honestly,My husband still can not pronounce my Chinese name so well .so,everyone calls my English name in his family,It's just much easier.Yes,you are correct .you can call our family names like Zhang or Lin... the point is,there are a lot of people's family name is Lin or Zhang,it makes people confused.
I remember when I was in the university,some of our classmates did not have an English name,our teacher,An American girl gave them English names cause she's a problem to remember their Chinese names and Could not pronounce it correctly.
When I first met my wife she introduced herself using her English name, I immediately asked for her Chinese name, and I've used it ever since (9 years now), although I mispronounced it for the first few months and she never bothered to correct me, I took the view that I'd be upset if someone asked / expected me to drop my English name for a Chinese one so I wasn't going to do the same.
Having said that in my classes I do find it a LOT easier to remember my students names if they use English names, I don't know why.
well, I'm a laowei and I kinda like using my Chinaman name,,, so, Even Steven is what I say...
my china name? Won Hung Lo 
but of course my gf gave me a 'cuddlier' name...
'qq bao bao' 
Most Chinese people can't pronounce my English name, so I just use my Chinese name. It's much easier for them to understand and pronounce.
Don't get me started on trying to pronounce their name, and accidentally saying something horrible! Fortunately, my wife's name is easy to pronounce.
I see no problem with this, and I'm pretty critical of almost everything here.
Maybe it's a conceptual way to run away their reality and feel something different than they are. Few days ago somebody asked me my Chinese name. I was really surprised. Maybe I should try it.
Take a look at Footballers names, has any journalist been blamed for misspelling? Being a stranger to a language and a culture, it has to be an "angry-bird" to be frustrated if someone couldn't pronounce your name correctly. Businessmen and women aren't robot either, so, there are less consequences if not none at a business meeting to do such mistakes. What is at stake in business is profitability not nama-bility. No offense guys. Just warming up 
My GFs name is Xuefang. I like the Chinese names but they can be hard to pronounce. The name she uses is Emily which I thought sounded lame, until I heard how she got it. Her QQ name is similar to Emily but is Chinese for I look beautiful. She gets work calls on QQ but they know her by her QQ name so they call her Emily. I thought that was cute.
I have another friend that I call Whyling, I don't pronounce it correctly, turns out her name is Yanling, but it doesn't sound like that to me.
I like the Chinese names. I guess because China is exotic to me and so are the names.
Bap:
Agree mate, there is not offense in those exotic name. And exotic is just before it is out-of-the commonly known names, and common rings with the world as it has been for ages in Europe and USA, Christianity and alike. So be be it. I would keep my kilometric name if I had one culturally given. Phenomenologyically, no name no existence. If you change your name, you misplaced or replaced your existence at difference space if not time. :)
For a lot of younger people there is another reason.
There are a limited amount of names you can legally name a person in China, plus out of all of the Chinese, there are only about 100 family names that cover about 90% of the people (compared to the US where there are 70,000 names that cover about 90%).
So, there are like 76 million people named "Zhang Wei" or "Wang Fei".
Names, like other aspects of the language, are limited.
So, for younger Chinese, many of them get to choose their own English name and even for younger parents, it's a chance to show off some creativity by giving a unique name to their child (since they are limited in Chinese)- hence all the "odd" English names for young children and the downright STRANGE names for young adults.
if a foreigners tell you his name which is very long and difficult to pronounced, can you also ask he to teach you how to pronounce it at your first meeting?
Bap:
First thing first. You are not at the meeting to pronounce names. And he is obviously conscious about his name being long and hard to spell. From my personal experience such people usually shorten the name and tell you to call them as such for convenience. They don't change the name at all. For example, Randrianbololona would tell you, "call me Randria". Simple like that. But if my Name is Wangxing and I ask you to call me Jerome, that's absolutely another name. It has never been a problem for sincere business people to be harassed about their partners names. Business as usual. In revenge, changing your name could tell me a little bit more about your sincerity and state of mind (psychology). It will all depend on the type of business at the very end :)
Wow you must be trolling here with the Chinese names aren't long speech, and the lawfulness of the country rant.
Your quote: " What is more, they do believe that it is their name and they would introduce themselves to foreigners under that English name unless you insist in having their Chinese name".
Vice Versa don't some Foreigners here get Chinese names from their friends? It's almost the same thing. It's a give and take thing!
Bap:
Vis versa doesn't work here, I am afraid. They won't ask their foreign friends or back home to be called under a Chinese name, unless they totally change their nationally with all the paperwork that follow including their names. Which is fair enough. As far as I know, those who get a Chinese name from the Chinese pairs have it for "fun", not for business or for work and to be voiced wherever they have to introduce themselves.
How many of them do you know around you? :)
you said right Chinese name Wang, Li, Zhang etc is not difficult to spell,but the pronounce is different between English. they want to make friends or do business with English people,so they got English name to introduce themselves. for domestic Chinese name will be more welcome.
