For our first session of the program, we spent much of our time introducing ourselves and getting to know each other. As this week's assignment, we decided to ask ourselves, What's in a name? And what does my name to me?
See below for what we had to say.
By Meng Zhen:
My name is Meng Zhen Ye. Let me tell you something about my name.
My name in Chinese is 叶梦真, "梦"means dream and "真" means true. It came from a chinese idiom 梦想成真 which means "dreams come true", and my parents took the first and last characters of this idiom.
When chinese people hear my name, it always reminds them of the idiom "梦想成真", and they have said "oh, it's a wonderful name, I like it''. I like my name too because my name is hard for people to give me a bad nickname.
I remember when I was younger, sometimes I talked with my father about my name, he said that he thought highly of what name he should give me. He almost checked every Chinese character and its meaning in the Chinese dictionary, but in the end, he still had no idea about what to name me. At the moment, he heard a sentence on the TV: "I wish your dreams come true." This inspired my father and he was excited. This is the story of my name that my father told me.
But later my mom told me that she named me, but she didn't tell a story of how does my name came from. I was so confused. But it doesn't matter; I love my name and myself.
By JingLing:
My name is Li, Jingling(李婧灵). It was given to me by my mother. My mother saw the character “Jing(婧)” in a book. It was a rare word during that time; she had never saw it before. She looked it up in the dictionary and found that the meaning of it is “girls who are beautiful and talented”. “Ling” means smart. She wanted me to be beautiful and smart, so she named me Jingling. Although I am expected to be a beautiful and smart girl, I am not that smart and not beautiful. Because “Jing” is a rare word during old time; nobody uses it. Many people make mistakes in saying my name and my teachers can never pronounce my name correctly the first time. After I came to the United States, nobody called me by the wrong name because there is only one way to pronounce my name in English.
Although it is easy to mispronounce my name, I still love my name. It stands for my mother’s expectation for me.
.
By Suzanne:
My given birth name is Xiu Zhen Tan in English (translated from Chinese pin yin to English), which is pronounced as Suzanne. It was from this, that people started calling me Suzanne. I would have been able to change it if I wanted to but I kept it because it is a unique and precious name. My Chinese name is 譚秀珍 (Traditional) / 谭秀珍
(Simplified). “谭” is my family’s last name which is “Tan” in English. “秀” is the meaning of elegance, beauty, or delicate beauty which is “Xiu”. “珍” is the meaning of precious and rare, where it is hard to find. People usually call me “珍珠” from this which means pearl or “珍珠奶綠” which means Bubble tea.
Sometimes people have difficulties saying my name especially in English. Every time when there’s a substitute/ a new teacher/ student, they would always call me something weird. There is never a time that they would say it correct the first time. I guess it is because it does not sound like an American name. I am supposed to get used to it by now since I’ve heard people say it wrong so many times but I am not. I still feel uncomfortable about it unless and until they get to know me. I have nicknames too but I prefer them to first learn how to say and write my name the correct way before calling me something else.
The idea for my name all began with my great grandma (my dad’s father’s mother). She wanted something that is meaningful so she created the “珍” part of the name to be added on. My cousins’ Chinese names each have that part of the name added (from my dad’s side). Theirs are: “珍珍” and “妙珍 ” which the “珍” is the similar part of the cycle. My great granny passed away before I was born but my dad still insist of adding that part when they were asked to name me in the hospital. That’s how my name was born. Well all I got to say is, I rather appreciate than hate because I really do adore my name because it represents who I am and the traits (including personalities) I am given!
By Jasmine:
My parents named me Zhan Wen because they wanted me to become a knowledgeable person in the future. The word “Zhan” means to grow, and the word “Wen” means to be polite and to have knowledge. When you combine the two words, it means to expand my knowledge in my path.
My English name is Jasmine and the name was given from my swimming coach, TC. He couldn’t pronounce my Chinese name since the first day of swimming practice so he later decided to call me Jasmine. This name is not unique but I like the fact that it sounds like my Chinese name. In addition, I enjoy having two names because I can keep my Chinese culture and also adapt to the American culture.
TC is my coach but he is more like a brother. He pushes me pass my limits in practice and cheers me on as I achieve my goals. He is the best coach I’ve had so far and he always spends extra time training me after practice. Without him, I would not become a better swimmer and would not have had victories in my swim meets.
I choose to use my English name because this is America and it is necessary to have an English name. Also, my Chinese name is hard to pronounce especially for Americans. I felt weird when people kept asking me how to say my name and my teachers always got stuck on my name when they were taking attendances.
By Ming:
My full name is Ming Ho Sinn. Name is very important in Chinese culture. Names have to be good and meaningful. I got this name from a fortune guy in Hong Kong and he is pretty famous. I do not know what my name means. I got this name because my mom wanted to get a fortune name for me so she went to find this guy. My family likes to call me "little Ming," but I never ask my family why do they call me "little Ming." When I first go to JKO (my high school), people make fun of my middle name when my teachers take attendance and my peers call me a "hoe," but I usually ignore them because if I respond them, they will just keep on teasing my name.
Check out our Week 1 class resources.
See below for what we had to say.
By Meng Zhen:
My name is Meng Zhen Ye. Let me tell you something about my name.
My name in Chinese is 叶梦真, "梦"means dream and "真" means true. It came from a chinese idiom 梦想成真 which means "dreams come true", and my parents took the first and last characters of this idiom.
When chinese people hear my name, it always reminds them of the idiom "梦想成真", and they have said "oh, it's a wonderful name, I like it''. I like my name too because my name is hard for people to give me a bad nickname.
I remember when I was younger, sometimes I talked with my father about my name, he said that he thought highly of what name he should give me. He almost checked every Chinese character and its meaning in the Chinese dictionary, but in the end, he still had no idea about what to name me. At the moment, he heard a sentence on the TV: "I wish your dreams come true." This inspired my father and he was excited. This is the story of my name that my father told me.
But later my mom told me that she named me, but she didn't tell a story of how does my name came from. I was so confused. But it doesn't matter; I love my name and myself.
By JingLing:
My name is Li, Jingling(李婧灵). It was given to me by my mother. My mother saw the character “Jing(婧)” in a book. It was a rare word during that time; she had never saw it before. She looked it up in the dictionary and found that the meaning of it is “girls who are beautiful and talented”. “Ling” means smart. She wanted me to be beautiful and smart, so she named me Jingling. Although I am expected to be a beautiful and smart girl, I am not that smart and not beautiful. Because “Jing” is a rare word during old time; nobody uses it. Many people make mistakes in saying my name and my teachers can never pronounce my name correctly the first time. After I came to the United States, nobody called me by the wrong name because there is only one way to pronounce my name in English.
Although it is easy to mispronounce my name, I still love my name. It stands for my mother’s expectation for me.
.
By Suzanne:
My given birth name is Xiu Zhen Tan in English (translated from Chinese pin yin to English), which is pronounced as Suzanne. It was from this, that people started calling me Suzanne. I would have been able to change it if I wanted to but I kept it because it is a unique and precious name. My Chinese name is 譚秀珍 (Traditional) / 谭秀珍
(Simplified). “谭” is my family’s last name which is “Tan” in English. “秀” is the meaning of elegance, beauty, or delicate beauty which is “Xiu”. “珍” is the meaning of precious and rare, where it is hard to find. People usually call me “珍珠” from this which means pearl or “珍珠奶綠” which means Bubble tea.
Sometimes people have difficulties saying my name especially in English. Every time when there’s a substitute/ a new teacher/ student, they would always call me something weird. There is never a time that they would say it correct the first time. I guess it is because it does not sound like an American name. I am supposed to get used to it by now since I’ve heard people say it wrong so many times but I am not. I still feel uncomfortable about it unless and until they get to know me. I have nicknames too but I prefer them to first learn how to say and write my name the correct way before calling me something else.
The idea for my name all began with my great grandma (my dad’s father’s mother). She wanted something that is meaningful so she created the “珍” part of the name to be added on. My cousins’ Chinese names each have that part of the name added (from my dad’s side). Theirs are: “珍珍” and “妙珍 ” which the “珍” is the similar part of the cycle. My great granny passed away before I was born but my dad still insist of adding that part when they were asked to name me in the hospital. That’s how my name was born. Well all I got to say is, I rather appreciate than hate because I really do adore my name because it represents who I am and the traits (including personalities) I am given!
By Jasmine:
My parents named me Zhan Wen because they wanted me to become a knowledgeable person in the future. The word “Zhan” means to grow, and the word “Wen” means to be polite and to have knowledge. When you combine the two words, it means to expand my knowledge in my path.
My English name is Jasmine and the name was given from my swimming coach, TC. He couldn’t pronounce my Chinese name since the first day of swimming practice so he later decided to call me Jasmine. This name is not unique but I like the fact that it sounds like my Chinese name. In addition, I enjoy having two names because I can keep my Chinese culture and also adapt to the American culture.
TC is my coach but he is more like a brother. He pushes me pass my limits in practice and cheers me on as I achieve my goals. He is the best coach I’ve had so far and he always spends extra time training me after practice. Without him, I would not become a better swimmer and would not have had victories in my swim meets.
I choose to use my English name because this is America and it is necessary to have an English name. Also, my Chinese name is hard to pronounce especially for Americans. I felt weird when people kept asking me how to say my name and my teachers always got stuck on my name when they were taking attendances.
By Ming:
My full name is Ming Ho Sinn. Name is very important in Chinese culture. Names have to be good and meaningful. I got this name from a fortune guy in Hong Kong and he is pretty famous. I do not know what my name means. I got this name because my mom wanted to get a fortune name for me so she went to find this guy. My family likes to call me "little Ming," but I never ask my family why do they call me "little Ming." When I first go to JKO (my high school), people make fun of my middle name when my teachers take attendance and my peers call me a "hoe," but I usually ignore them because if I respond them, they will just keep on teasing my name.
Check out our Week 1 class resources.