Jian Shuo Wang Becomes Wang Jian Shuo
By Jian Shuo Wang on 2008-09-21 05:49 · YLFDuring this trip to YLF, and recent other trips in US, I just realized in more and more occasions, my name is printed as Wang Jian Shuo instead of Jian Shuo Wang. If you didn’t noticed the difference yet, let me tell you explicitly: it is all about first name first or the last name first for Chinese people.
I write about Why I don’t have an English Name 4 years ago. If you don’t have the time to read that long article, the quick reason is about how you can legally proof that you are the person identified by your English name. But in the last few years, more and more I feel a Chinese name is all about the Chinese identify that I feel very comfortable of.
Change of Orders
The order of the change is a small change, but it means something significant to me.
When we translate someone’s name from US to China, we keep the order. Bill Gates is translated to directly to Chinese using pronunciation, and the Gates part always comes after Bill. I cannot think of any scenario in China that people address Bill Gates as Gates Bill… The only transition from the last few decades was, there was to be a dot between the Chinese translation of first name and last name. Now, the dot is used and still regarded as the right way to do it, but fewer and fewer people will need to add the dot. Maybe because it is not directly in the keyword or easy to access via Chinese IME.
For the same reason, the translation of Chinese name to English seems easy. Pinyin is already a great way to do the word to word translation, but why Chinese name has to be put upside down to fit the English standard?
I didn’t think about this until recently I saw my name more and more often printed as Wang Jian Shuo. It at least reflected that the culture and people exchange in the two countries (or more countries) are more frequent. Just as people in China don’t really need the dot or even dash to help get the first name and last name apart (because the names are very family to many people already), people don’t need to change the order of Chinese names to fit the English tradition, since people will gradually know how that Chinese names always have surname first and given name last.
19 Comments
Some Chinese first names has 2 words (e.g. Jian Shou). It will be better that you join this word together without spacing to become JianShou.
Add another point, when you display 3 words Wang Jian Shou, others might not able to identify which is your FirstName and LastName. Usually Western names will only display 2 words e.g. Bill Gate or Micah Sittig. There is possibility other might think that your FirstName is "Wang Jian" and LastName is "Shou".
I wonder if you would be covering topics regarding Chinese dairy produce, food/ veg regulatory bodies in china and other thing along those lines in light of the recent tainted milk scandal?
I'm sure many would be interested to find out more
It may take a short moment for people to ask, if they need to, to clarify your family name and your given name. We English speakers - I am from UK -need to learn that people in different places have different name structures, and recognise it is a central part of honour of another culture to learn how that culture's name is made up, and learn how to pronounce it. As you say, Bill Gate's name is not changed in China, and in all my trips to China no one has ever asked me to change mine.
BTW - the salsa night was awesome!
People gradually know more about cultures and they feel trendy if they can do the things in the way of another culture. Hence, people sees that as the correct way to introduce a Chinese name.
There is one more thing. I still remember that when I first introduced myself to my tutor as the English name Liz, he said, "no, that's not your name. what's your real name?" As for him, only the Chinese name is the real one, coz I may have different names in English, French, Spanish, etc. Since then, I never have English name any more.
In America it used to be the case that one could use a stage name if no fraud involved, but as you point out, now security for travel and credit means this is less possible.
Another point is tht styles change for how married women caall themselves, both in China and the West.
I think we should keep track of naming conventions over time, as it indicates Western influences (how easy for others to pronounce) and what parents expect from children.
Its often not obvious to me (as an English native speaker) what is the last or first name. Most Chinese will put the first name first and the family name last when it is in English. So unless you do what Micah suggested "WANG Jianshuo" or "WANG Jian Shuo" then it is totally unclear to foreigners if your last name is Wang or Jian. We do not know that Wang is one of the most popular surnames in China.
Maybe we will reach a tipping point where Chinese will all use their exact name in Pinyin as their English name but we haven't reached that tipping point yet.
Some of my non-Chinese friends found my name too difficult to pronounce.
My Chinese name is Lee Hau Yee 李巧儿
I am a foreigner and I live in China and study Chinese language. I have a Chinese name 石中行 and friends just call me 小石头 (small stone), so I was wandering does my Chinese name has the same status in China as a foreign name for a Chinese person living in the West (as Jie or. Liz pointed out), where we think that the only real name is original one (in this case Jie I guess, and in mine Dejan) or do Chinese people prefer Chinese name for a foreigner?
Thx
Like many other things, there is no right and wrong. I respect the culture and naming scenario of different country but do find myself frustrated trying to remember a name from other country apart from motherland.
It's also quite common to have a nick name among people for below reasons:
1. showing the relationship between each other;
2. memory convenience.