HANGHAI —
During high school, Zhou Chen was flipping through the
dictionary when she found the perfect name for herself: Satan.
"It's too easy to have the same name with someone else with the
common names," said Ms. Zhou, 24, who has used Satan for the
last six years with English-speaking foreigners. "I have yet to
meet another person named Satan," she says.
Although one of her co-workers keeps trying to persuade her
to change her name to something a slightly less sinister, Ms.
Zhou is undeterred, saying she likes the name both for its sound
and its supernatural connotations.
Ms. Zhou is hardly the only one at her Shanghai-based company
with a notable English name. Among the 170 or so employees at
Intrinsic Technology and Linktone, where wireless data
technologies are developed, are Bison Zhang, Jekyll Ji, Redfox
Cui, Cherry Ge, Echo Zhang, Feeling Chen, Three Sun and Seven
Lee.
By incorporating the flexibility of Chinese naming
conventions with stimulus from Western popular culture, the
younger generation of urban Chinese is expanding the base of
ready-made English names like David and Amy. English names used
among young Chinese today can be inspired from sports, culture
or simply the dictionary, ranging from Magic Johnson and
Manchester United to Skywalker and Medusa or Fish and Power.
"What's being reflected at the moment is a universal desire
for uniqueness," said Prof. Cleveland Evans, a psychology
professor at Bellevue University in Nebraska, who does research
on naming trends around the world.
"It's sort of a paradox," the professor said. "As the world
becomes smaller and more connected through culture and movies,
people become more insistent on names that are unique to the
individual to give them a sense of difference."
Wang Chuanyang, a senior at Beijing University who chose
Skywalker after seeing "Star Wars: Episode I — Phantom Menace."
"I never wanted a name like David or Michael or Tom," he said.
"They're too common. Everyone wants to be special."
Young Chinese often adopt Western names to use in the English
classroom, or to ease interaction with foreigners who find the
X's, Q's and Z's in transliterated Chinese names awkward.
The connotations of the names they choose may raise foreign
eyebrows, but the names often appeal to Chinese for those same
reasons. Medusa Feng, 19, a student at the Central University of
Nationalities in Beijing, chose her name in high school after
reading about the mythical Greek Gorgon in an English textbook.
"I'm not saying I'm evil, but I'm a bit cold," she explained. "I
also like the feeling of having a name which has the connotation
of great power, the power to change people into stone."
Atypical Western names among Chinese students also reflect
different attitudes that the cultures have toward naming.
"Chinese names are often chosen for their meaning, but English
names are often chosen for their sounds," observed Ye
Chongguang, 20, a junior at Beijing University who chose the
name Magic Johnson, after the basketball star, whom he says he
worships.
Most of the time, he tells people to call him Johnson. "Only
in formal situations, like signing documents, do I use my full
name, Magic Johnson Ye," he explained.
Part of the appeal of English names for Chinese students is
that they are very flexible. Little or no formal documentation
is required for name changes here, and people will often adopt a
name for a few months or years before changing to something else
that is more appealing, or more current. Traditionally names
could be changed throughout a person's life at significant
events, like graduation or a large promotion.
Shortly after the revolution in 1949, names like Jianguo
(Construct the Nation) and Jianjun (Construct the Army) became
popular. During the Korean War, names like Fangmei (Resist
America) or Bangchao (Help Korea) appeared.
Today, Chinese are applying the flexibility of traditional
naming customs in a way that has been spiced by the pervasive
influences of Western culture. While Chinese students may once
have taken their names off prepared lists in class or were
assigned names by teachers, now Western culture has inspired
students to come up with their own names, even if some of them
may seem quirky to Western ears.
