There is an American-Australian couple (white, if you must be specific), who named one of their three kids, a boy: Yo Xing Heyno Augustus Eisner Alexander Weiser Knuckles. (Read article here)
Or for short, “Yo Xing”.
He is not adopted at all.
It sounded strange at first, that a non-Chinese child who was not born in China, nor have any roots in China at all (via an ethnic background), would have a very Chinese name.
There don’t seem to be any discernible ties to how he was named as such, other than their parents having a penchant for whimsy.
Then I thought: Wait, but is it so strange than if for example when Chinese parents name their children American names?
Or if any other culture — Italian, Mexican, Filipino, etc… who name their child with a non-cultural name?
There are tons of children out there who have names..
- not related to their ethnic background
- not related to where they were born (or when)
I am slightly fascinated by this because it’s as though…
- English (William, Jane, James, Elizabeth)
- French (Yvonne, Andre, Natalie, Jerome)
- Jewish (Jacob, Shiloh, Noah, Abigail)
…names are “acceptable” as general names for English-speaking children, but more ethnic names for babies who aren’t born of that ethnic background sound strange to our ears.
Like Yo Xing. Or Fabio. Or Amit.
Anyway, there is no real point in this post.
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There’s nothing wrong with giving your kids exotic names, but I think that they overdid it by giving him more than a first, middle and last name.
I am a Filipino but my name was derived from Old English. Nowadays, it is very rare that a Filipino will bear a native Filipino name such as Malakas (strong) or Maganda (beautiful). Most Filipinos have either an English or a Chinese name.
I know many Americans who name their kids with Italian names (Isabella especially, also Mia — although I don’t think Mia is really a name in Italy, it just means “my”) and have no connection to Italy via heritage but just like the sound of it.
I have a very ethnically incongruous first, middle and last name. Meaning they are all from very distinct parts of the world. this is because my grandparents were in the diplomatic service, which is one place where this is pretty common.
I say I get questions on it, like people will ask, “I hope you don’t mind my asking…but what ethnicity are you?” People will also sometimes guess that I am some verrry odd mix when my heritage is 100% one thing.
I think it’s probably one of those things where, a kid can be named along with the culture he was born into (i.e., a Chinese name for a Chinese baby) or named along with the culture in which he’ll be raised (i.e., a common Canadian name — forget ethnicity here, I’m just talking names that are typical in the English speaking world — for a Chinese baby who will be raised in Toronto.) I think that’s probably why it seems so striking. If the white baby, born to white parents, was to be raised his whole life in Beijing, then the Chinese name would make perfect sense.
I mean, would it be weird if a Chinese couple who live in China and never plan to move to an English speaking country have a kid and name it Zachary? Or Tiffany? That seems just as off-kilter, to me. (Though admittedly, I don’t know. Maybe this isn’t that uncommon?)
That’s my guess, anyway. But hey, to each his own. A name’s a name, at the end of the day. (FYI my name is from Greek mythology. There isn’t a drop of Greek blood in my family line — ever.)
Wow. When I read the first sentence I was thinking that the court was going to reject the name. I’ve actually never realized until now how strange it is that the “accepted” names are all European…
I’m Mexican and I have a pretty standard Latin name (Julieta). However, I have cousins and nephew with all kinds of names from all over the world like: Midori, Yvan, Yazmín, Melanie, Brian and so on.
One of my cousins tried to name her son Ares and she was told at the City Hall that she couldn’t name her child that because there is a law that stops parents from using names that will be subjected to bullying or any other form of harrasing.
I particularly enjoy Russian and French names and French versions of Latin names.
I wouldn’t say the “Jewish” names are Jewish per se. They are just Old Testament/Biblical names, and therefore part of the Christian name tradition as well.
I’m a Chinese-American with an American given name and a Chinese surname. The only reasons I can think of this are:
1) Much easier to pronounce Jewish, French, etc. names in English because they at least use the Roman alphabet. I’m actually pretty sure that this is the main reason. If I were given a Chinese name rather than an English name, I would have given myself an English nickname to make the lives of everyone else around me, and my own, easier. (My roommate did this. She changed her given name upon US naturalization too.)
2) All the ethnicities you mentioned are white. Asians are not white, therefore a lot more “foreign”.
This is really interesting, FB.
Stephanie, your first point was my first thought too- I know that I am terrible at pronouncing a lot of Chinese names. Even once I hear them (I think sometimes the way they’re transcribed isn’t the most phonetic way), some of the sounds are just really hard for me. I have a lot of Chinese coworkers and classmates, and they try to help me, but it’s not pretty. Some of them have chosen English nicknames, which does make it easier. Others aren’t too hard to pronounce, actually, but some I know I mispronounce every time I talk them them, but we make it work.
I don’t think it’s my business what other people name their children, but I know if someone close to me chose a Chinese name, I might have a hard time using it.