For many of us, our names are inseparable from our personal identities. But in this mixed up, muddled up, shook up world, should we all travel with an alias (or two) up our sleeve?
Under pressure
In 2020, a college professor in California pressured a Vietnamese American student to ‘Anglicise’ her name. To his ears, her name Phúc (shorn of Vietnamese tones) sounded like an expletive. The student refused and filed a complaint. The story subsequently broke and caused a furore on social media in the US. The student was lauded for standing her ground, retaining her name, and calling out the professor who was duly suspended for his discriminatory demand.
No big deal
Interestingly, in the student’s motherland, the story didn’t cause a stir, not even a ripple. That’s possibly because Vietnamese people change their names all the time. In Ho Chi Minh City, many locals like having a supplementary western name to sound more international for the job market, or because they believe their name is too hard to pronounce for non-Vietnamese colleagues / clients. Many Vietnamese also already have an alias in their own language – perhaps a family nickname that lifelong friends commonly use, too, or a social media alter ego. Using a moniker that isn’t their given name just isn’t a big deal.
Flexible approach
In an increasingly fluid and multicultural world, one might wonder if we should all take this flexible approach to names – or at least have a spare alias in ‘case of emergency’. For the record, yours truly lives in Vietnam, where my own name (con la ) means ‘mule’. When I make reservations, or order a delivery, I go by ‘Mr. Cola’, although that’s mainly because it’s easier to spell / pronounce (“you know, like Coca-Cola”) so it saves time.
Tougher for kids
However, more seriously, I have heard of expat children who have changed their names as they had unfortunate meanings, either in English, or the language of a host culture. Most adults might be too long in the tooth to entertain the thought of changing their name. But the reality is that most kids don’t have such thick skin. If their name has an unfortunate meaning in another language, they might have a tough time in schools. Alas, it’s far from unusual for kids to tease a peer when presented with an obvious joke.
Photo: iStock
