Hello. My Name Is...

My Name is Regis. What's yours?

Salad? Rain? Echo? No, try again...

Dreamer? China? Krithy? No, not quite...

Dong Dong? Yo Yo? Maybe not...

Alta Vista? Definitely Not.

Those are just a few of the many interesting and (How do I say this?) unique, names our Chinese friends have introduced themselves as. There isn't much we can do to help them. In a country where people are named anything from Snow White (雪百）, Fog Between the Mountains (岚), Striding Over Mountains (迈岭), and other honorable names, it would probably be too much to expect regular English names from all 1.3 billion people. Ironically, in America, Native Americans often associate names with honorable characteristics. Swift Wolf, White Lily, Brown Bear, Shining Star, and other names are given to children for many reasons. A child's name could also hold with it the weight of parental aspirations. For example, in China, a female receiving a male name, (such as Brittany's name- Su Hai -苏海), the daughter is expected to be very successful in whatever she wishes to do, especially business or politics. A parent may name a child and, coincidentially, their personalities may match their given name. There are so many meanings that are associated with a person's name, that you can learn so much from a person having just heard their name. Jimmy, my roommate, is James L. III. His name has been passed on for generations. Other people, such as my friend Skippy, have names stemming from friendly nicknames. Skippy, who's real name is John, doesn't even go by John at home. In fact, Skippy goes by Charlie (Charles), which is his middle name.

A person's namesake is an integral part of a person. Not only does it identify and distinguish one person from the other, but your character and personality can influence the way a person thinks about a name. Everyone can always remember the name of their arch enemy and often times people tend to associate that name with a negative connotation. There are some names we love, some names we hate, some names that are just too weird, but the fact of the matter is, we all need one. The Chinese names, although unique, have a special meaning in my opinion. For many of these people, this is their first time giving themselves English names. This is a huge step forward in terms of cross-cultural integration and in terms of cultural discovery. I was lucky enough to be given my name from my Chinese professor in college, taking the burden of decision off my shoulders, but what would you do if you were suddenly asked to give yourself a name in another language? Where do you begin? And how would you describe yourself? When it comes to Chinese names, we can't sit back and just laugh at their naïvity. We can and we do, but really. What are they trying to say about themselves? Rain, Echo, Dreamer...and even Salad too, chose their name for a reason. Whatever reason that may be deserves our respect and reverence. I mean, for most of us, picking our name wasn't even our decision, so we're stuck with what we've got, but if worse comes to worse, they can always change their poorly choosen name to whatever they want. As for me, Zeng Li (曾力) will always be my name, what's yours?