What's In A Name?

Tiffany- Nov. 7, 2005

First names in Chinese culture have very specific meanings. Names are chosen to indicate, and hopefully influence, aspects of a child’s life, such as wisdom, beauty and fortune. Examples of Chinese names include Jin Jing- ‘sparkling gold’ and Lin Yao- ‘beautiful jade treasure’.

When arriving in China, my co-workers were shocked to find that the only real meanings behind the name Tiffany are high-end jewelry or a washed-up 80’s pop star. They could not believe that Americans choose names based exclusively on how they sound. They encouraged me to choose a Chinese name, as it is custom for foreigners to do when living in China. Since all the names that I liked tended to be on the ‘peasant’ side of the name spectrum, they ended up christening me with more of a direct translation (Tee Fa Nee), which is pretty much Tiffany with a Chinese accent.

Since my ‘renaming’ session, I’ve had a few run-ins or heard stories of some interesting English names that Chinese people have chosen for themselves when learning English. Here are the best ones I’ve run into so far:

·Mariah Carey
·Alan Iverson
·Black People (individual’s name, not a group)
·Crazy Girl
·Cocaine
·Moist
·Window
·Superman

I have to admit, the list I’ve been gathering is not only entertaining, but also makes me realize how happy I am I’ve chosen a boring translation of Tiffany, as the wrong name could have been quite embarrassing... with my luck, I'd end up running around with something like Toilet Paper as my Chinese name!