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ketchupneeded@lemmygrad.ml

My name is now Zhou Ming (lemmygrad.ml)

submitted 2 months ago by Sodium_nitride@lemmygrad.ml to c/chapotraphouse@lemmygrad.ml

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Yeah I am going to a trip to Taiwan in X units of time for Y purpose (I want to avoid being doxxed) and the event organizers told me I need a Chinese name (idk for what exactly tbh).

So there you go. I'm pretty sure the chinese name means something like "complete enlightenment" (or at least that is a possible interpretation, which I'm going with cause its cool af).

I kinda wanted to do something with "xiao" because I find it cute and almost girly (although I think Chinese people wouldn't find it as such), but it's fine I guess.

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[–] CriticalResist8@lemmygrad.ml 6 points 2 months ago (6 children)

ROC is salty about simplified Chinese and tries to do some eugenics shit with their language. I saw a video of a two women band on The Voice Taiwan, one of them sang pop and the other growled (as in metal), and she got disqualified for "disrespecting the Chinese language" or something. For growling. In real China she would probably be a national star by now lol.

Her bandmate was allowed to continue without her btw.

[–] mao_dun@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 2 months ago (5 children)

I was gonna say, would you (op/sodium_nitride) romanize the "Chou" instead of "Zhou" because you're going to Taiwan?

[–] mao_dun@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

^ assuming you're adopting 周 (I mean other zhou surnames like 舟，州 are less common but would still be romanized to chou in taiwan)

relatively inconsequential but worth a couple seconds of thought also regarding adopting surname

I know some chinese people find it a bit weird when non-chinese people use a (normal/standard) chinese surname when picking out a chinese name (no problem with getting a chinese name itself), idk maybe check in with your organizers first?

I mean if you wanna still run with it go for it, it's just that last names especially chinese ones are often tied to ancestral roots and often (but not always) is kind of a tell for what region your folks come from (related: mapping chinese surnames and earlier waves of diaspora with plethora of romanizations of their surnames penned by western immigration officers).

Oh, and also, most people don't factor in the surname when explaining what the name means. 明 by itself means bright, shining, illuminated, smart, depending on context.

[–] Sodium_nitride@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Ah, thank you for the info. I choose a common surname specifically because I thought that would make it stand out less, but I suppose this concern is valid.

I can't really reach out to the organisers about this. I have to submit my details through intermediaries who are taking care of the whole process.

[–] mao_dun@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 2 months ago

You're probably fine to use it, especially if you feel it's similar to your og surname (evoking its pronunciation/first syllable, or its meaning). It's just a consideration that might come up, definitely would feel weirder if you were a white westerner haha. Historically non-han peoples sinicizing took particular Chinese last names, for example, among Hui ethnic people who practice Islam, some common last names are 胡 hu/hussein 马 ma/mohammed 穆 mu/also mohammed

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