Random thought that I had the other day: I meant an Asian guy at a random event, he presented himself with a very local name (imagine Jan in Germany), and we discuss a bit (turns out his parents are from Guangzhou) , but later on when I checked his LinkedIn he actually has a very Chinese-sounding name (he doesn’t speak Mandarin, he told me his parents spoke another language).
I then remembered that I have a couple of cousins in their mid 20s which are now switching to European names on their social media profiles.
Not sure how to feel about it, I’ve always been proud of my Vietnamese first name, it never really crossed my mind to change to a European one.
However I’m lucky that my parents picked one that is simple to pronounce and read (and Vietnamese names can be though on that regard), so I guess if indeed my name was always butchered I might want to change it to something easier to get for the majority of the people I would encounter in my daily life.
What do you think? Have you seen similar situations around you?
I mean… yes, that does alienate you a bit with the rest of the population. But still, you can give children a name that isn’t used for official legal documents. Or like put it as the “Middle Name”.
Like, it can be very sentimental when… you know… the parent dies…
I know, I might sound a bit silly. “It’s just a name”, yes, but its one that echos in your ancestors, it goes up the bloodline, across time. Its an artifact, an heirloom. A unique bond between parent and child.
To 2nd generations… it might seem less impactful, so I don’t know if y’all might understand from my PoV. But, even though I emigrated when I was very young, when I was 8, that name is still a core part of my identity.
I think having such a name, even if not part of your legal name, kinda helps with like… you know… just feeling less self-shame about your heritage… helps with self-esteem a bit.
Are you parents still… around?
If you have a half-decent relationship with them… you can… ask them to give you a name (maybe they already thought of one but never used it). If they are still here, it’s never too late.
You can write a sort of mini-biography journal entry about it. Like: My name is [X] but the name my parents gave me is [Y]. And make the entry look cool. Add some flowery proses to it. xD It can make you feel better.
Haha that’s a good idea, maybe I’ll ask them about it. Idk if they had even come up with something at the time, but maybe they did. Either way, it should make for an interesting conversation:)