Recently CCTV published an article on its website suggesting that when Chinese peopletake English names, they should be more careful and avoid inappropriate or "stripper"names. Days later the BBC also published a comment on this topic.
It has become a common practice that Chinese people take English names. Almosteveryone in my circle of Chinese contact has an English name.
I took it for granted calling some of them English names. However, not until the other daywhen two Italian friends expressed their confusion about why Chinese can pick theirEnglish names by themselves and change whenever they want, did I realize that it mightbe a very Chinese phenomenon.
Back at my junior high school, the English teacher asked each student to take an Englishname. To be honest, at that time we were excited - after all, our Chinese names were givenby our parents and it seemed like a supreme right that we had a chance to refresh ournames on our own.
I carefully chose the name "Belle" after the heroine of the Disney movie Beauty and theBeast. I had used this name for nearly 10 years until I finally could no longer standconstantly being called "Belly."
This was mostly because Belle is the English name of a shoe brand that can be seeneverywhere, and its Chinese name is pronounced baili.
It is not difficult to explain why English names emerged and spread quickly in China. Sincethe 1990s, Chinese people have been in regular contact with foreign culture. In Hong Kong-funded enterprises, it is very common to use English names during or after work due to thehistorically colonial culture of Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, as foreign companies were established, foreign executives encourageemployees to use English names.
While many Chinese people keep using their English names, there are a certain numberwho are very against English names. Some netizens have even formed an Anti-EnglishNames Group on douban.com, a Chinese social networking website, in which they refuse tohave English names, arguing that this is an unpatriotic way that shows a lack of nationalconfidence.
They argued that Chinese names can be read in pinyin, so there is no need for one to havetwo different names. They also claimed that people from other Asian countries such asJapan, South Korea, and India do not take English names, though this is often not the case.
The anti-English campaigners held that foreigners should respect Chinese language andculture, and Chinese don't have to use English names in order to please foreigners.
Besides, they argued that some people name themselves in English in order to show offthat they know Western culture, as if they are superior to their peers.
Although it's true that Chinese people tend to be fonder of English names than other non-English-speaking countries, protesting against this and linking it with patriotism is a bitover exaggerated.
After all, we Chinese are asked to take English names either at school or company, thereason is to stimulate language study interest or to build a part of corporate culture.
Even if not required, some Chinese people create English names just because everyone hasthem. The intention is to create a way for easier communication rather than deliberatelypleasing foreigners or showing off any kind of superiority.
Chinese names are usually given after deep consideration and discussion. Personal namesare often an expression of a family's hopes for a child. Talking about Chinese people'sEnglish names, it is reasonable to call for more serious consideration even if it might beconsidered just a nickname that will never be officially registered.
If we can find a decent English name with both similar pronunciation and a compatiblecharacter to our Chinese name, it would be nice. Otherwise, we'd better be careful. At leastwe should follow the suggestions given by the CCTV article and try to avoid changing theEnglish name from time to time and creating confusion.
Names are a symbol. We don't have to be overly serious about them, but we shouldn't becareless either.
