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YungSchmid t1_j4n0gim wrote

Reply to comment by captain-melanin in TIFU by changing my name by [deleted]

A lot of people with Chinese ancestry give themselves a ‘western’ name in my country. Probably for a number of reasons; makes them (and closeted racist people) feel like they fit in, easier to remember, people can spell and pronounce it, etc.

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mungalo9 t1_j4naxlj wrote

Chinese names can be really hard to pronounce for westerners. Especially since pinyin doesn't translate to English pronunciation 1:1. it's often easier to give a new name rather than have your name mispronounced for the rest of your life

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StatisticianLivid710 t1_j4p6iyb wrote

This, I’ve made an effort to learn how to pronounce Chinese names, but will call them their western names if they prefer. Sadly company I was working for required their legal names as opposed to their western names, but since they didn’t have middle names on ID I would put their western name as the middle name for east recall

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NTGenericus t1_j4nk0jx wrote

All of my Chinese friends except one have given themselves Western names. They say it just makes things easier.

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iwillc t1_j4rt84h wrote

Is the same true for western people that end up in China? Do they create Chinese names for ease? (Serious)

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NTGenericus t1_j4rwspd wrote

I actually have no idea. But that's a really good question. In Hong Kong probably not since English is (or was) one of the official languages. I couldn't even guess about the rest of China.

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DrFox247 t1_j4o3mp2 wrote

The Chinese friends I have usually just use the English translation of there name, unfortunately sometimes it does not translate well

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