Names ? Chinese V's English

BearCat · Joined: 19 Jan 2009 Posts: 3 Location: Basingstoke

Hi.....some help please form the people who know.
I am and English national with an British passport.
My wife is Chinese with a Chinese passport.
In China she has a her Chinese name Family and Given Kang Zhihua...In England she is Known by her English name Connie......
Question ? For the purposes of banks, doctors, work in fact everything in England; is it best for her to use
1 her Chinese name only ......very hard for the brits ( Dimwits )
2 Her English name only?......not very nice for her
3 A mix of the two....ie Mrs Connie K Wheeler

and what are the implication of giving her a mixed name by deed poll in UK.....any help would be appreciated.

Colin

pensggs · Joined: 24 Jan 2007 Posts: 361

In the 1960s it was 'chic an in' to adopt an English name or a Christian name ( I do not why when you decide to convert, you have to be given a Cristian name )

When I arrived in England, I used the name in my passport. Wnen I married I continued to use my own name as Chinese do not change their surname after marriage. Everytime I do through Immigration after holidays, I was given 'the third degree ' because I declared myself as married but no name change. At work colleagues kept quering about my marital status. I decided for ease of living in UK to change my surname.

I continue to use my Chinese name whenever I applied for employment. I was employed at my first job because they needed me in their statistics for 'ethnic minority quota', I qualified on that ground. However, in a comparatively short time I became second in command in that office by merit.

However, using my Chinese name to apply for employemnt limited my chances to be shortlisted by many potential employers. MY Chinese name limited my chances. Should I have changed my name by deed poll?
No, I could not live with myself. If I am ashame of myself, I would not be happy.

With my friends and on my own terms, I continue to use my English name.

Whether your wife decide to change her name should be her own decision.

A name is like a badge. She will be shortlisted more often for interviews but she will get more rejections. This is a fact of life. That is probably the only benefit of having an English name. ( This is probably and most likely problem with all those Chinese girls adopted by English families ).

Good luck and Happy New Year.

szeto-chow · Joined: 03 Feb 2008 Posts: 17

Honestly..

You are in England so use an English name!

You could use Connie.. chinese name.. married surname
which is what most people do.

Using just a Chinese name is fine but cause problems. My father insisited on using my chinese name all the time in opening bank accounts and my chinese name was mistaken for my surname so cheques ended up being sent and letters sent in the wrong name. very annoying and time consuming

Its not the British peoples fault and I think its rude to assume it is as I do many events some people use surname first like Wong Kwan and some use the other way Kwan Wong so its always difficult registering people and they get missed as they gave the surname as the first name. Remember you are in Europe which uses Christian names first so respect it.

Also people struggle to pronounce Chinese names correctly so make it easier for her as she may just get labelled the one with the difficult name to pronounce which is not nice.

BearCat · Joined: 19 Jan 2009 Posts: 3 Location: Basingstoke

Thank you for your answers....it is nice to have an oppinion form someone with direct experience of the effects the actions have....

Kenniey · Joined: 05 Mar 2008 Posts: 3 Location: Norfolk

BearCat · Joined: 19 Jan 2009 Posts: 3 Location: Basingstoke

That seems quite cheap for England...and easy too

porkscratchings · Joined: 27 Feb 2003 Posts: 112 Location: BirmingHAM

I was given a chinese name (no English equivalent). I have used this all my life.

As most chinese use an English first name (either to conform or the name was given by their parents as an 'alternative' name to the chinese one used at home), pple often don't know what to do when they meet someone like me, who does not fit in with the norm.

Some pple call me by a shortened version of my name which has equivalent sounds in English. A teacher once called me by my surname because she couldn't pronounce my name. Others have 'renamed' me to something English sounding, even when it sounds stupid. This just shows the English mentality - that all foreigners must change their ways to suit the English - but not the other way round!

But decent pple will generally make an effort to get my name right.

I won't change my name to make myself more employable - those who don't accept me as I am don't deserve me.

Each person must make the choice to change name or not. Respect u either way.

Fruityboy · Joined: 11 Sep 2007 Posts: 217 Location: London

What's wrong with her having her Chinese name? Why hold her Chinese roots down? Your kids are gonna grow up to be clueless about their mothers heritage you mark my words!!!
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ying6jojo · Joined: 03 Oct 2007 Posts: 4 Location: United Kingdom

I agree, she should keep her own identity and heritage.

People do often having trouble of remembering and pronouncing Chinese names, that's why many Chinese have English names. My Chinese name is one of the difficult ones, I have tried to use it, but many times I have to correct people's pronunciation, often I have to correct more than once and many times both the other person and I got embarrassed. This can be avoided by using the English name. In order to keep my Chinese name in people’s mind, all my formal documents and my company email address are in my Chinese name.

I really think deed poll is unnecessary, I would feel a part of me being ‘deleted’, would not be very nice.

nancy · Joined: 09 Oct 2009 Posts: 48

Sorry!I don't have any information on this. I can't help you on this.

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