Attempts at "whitening" oneself
15 April 2008, 4:54 pm. View comments. Filed under Personal, Rants.
I can understand why many (Southeast) Asians would like to have Western last names. Southeast Asians typically get a (boring) single-syllable last name so much more common than a Western last name (boring x 2). Just think of some of the most popular Asian last names: Lee/Li, Chang/Zhang, Wang/Wong, Chen/Cheng/Zheng, and so on. And my last name—Sun—is almost as absurd as Moon or Star. But so what? My last name is part of what defines who I am.
There's a long line of ancestry behind my last name which has survived thousands of years of history. The first on our family's official family tree is Sun Tzu, dating back to the 6th century BC. Our family tree (a massive book with names) has been passed down 2500 years, each time to the eldest son. Technically, there should be just one in the world. But since my grandparents currently hold one, I highly doubt that's the one (because that's too hard to believe. And surely, someone would've thought of publishing multiple copies to pass to all their sons). Either way, I am a (very, very, very distanced) blood relative of Sun Tzu or his next-in-line Sun Bin, as recorded in our family tree. Anyone who has a reasonable level of knowledge about Ancient Chinese history would have heard about Sun Tzu's Art of War. There's something to feel proud about to be a descendant of him.
And I am sure, whichever last name one owns, there's also a story behind it relating to its origins. We are here because of our ancestors, whoever they are. Yet some people are more than happy about giving up their cultural heritage for a "cooler" Western last name perhaps so they feel superior among other Asians? When Asian Girl A sees an obviously-Asian Asian Girl B with a Western last name, something like this happens:
A: "Wow! Are you a mix?!" (I agree mixes are cool)
*anticlimax*
B: "No. I changed my surname."
A: "Oh."
What for? What's so bad about being a Chinese that it makes some people feel ashamed to own a Chinese last name? There's historical meaning behind every last name that a new meaningless one doesn't give. There are even worse Western last names out there like "Sucks". It's nice to know how I came to be, and my last name connects me with my ancestors. I vow I will never be as ignorant as to pay $100+ to the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs to change my name to some random unrelated Cheryl Smith crap. Marriage, of course, is a different matter.
34 Comments »
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When I was in elementary I often wished to have a ore Hungarian sounding name, because almost everyone distorted my 100% Romanian sounding surname. Plus, here there's all in all a rather pronounced racism between Romanians and Hungarians... so for safety reasons, sometimes it's better to fit in.
Nevertheless, I'm by no means ashamed of any of my three heritages, though I don't really like to brag. You never know who you might come across. -
I agree. Even though one might say that Asian last names are boring and repetitive, I find them kind of cool in a way. It's almost ... I don't know how to explain it, but to me, it seems almost kind of majestic.
My last name is like one of THE most common ... Li. But I still like it. It may just be because I'm too "self-loving" all the time and I just love everything about myself, but I do like my name. XD
It also makes it harder for stalkers to find you because there must be like 2309580349580 Cindy Li's in the world.
As for marriage, I would not change my last name unless it sounds waaaay cooler with my husband's last name. XD -
The only problem I have with Asian surnames is that I never know how to pronounce them.
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Oh come on Rachael, I'm sure you can pronounce mine.
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Your surname really IS who you are though, for example a few weeks back a girl in my tutorial class turned to me and asked how to write my surname in chinese, and as I finished writing she told me she had done a project on the heritage of chinese surnames, and my surname happened to be involved in her researches. I do kinda wanna change it back to what it WAS in the past though (Ou-Young instead of just Ou)
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Omfg your original name was Ou-Yang? I love that last name you know! It's like a name that exists in Chinese martial arts and love novels.
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I think most Chinese last names are cute! I love your last name, Rilla. So even if they are somewhat "common" and obviously Asian, I don't see that as a reason to change it to something American.
My last name is "Fernández" is from Spain, and it's somewhat common in Latin American. I like it and I wouldn't change it! Besides, it supposedly links me to ultra dead royalty and knights.
As for you, miss Sun, you must give me your autograph if you are Sun Tzu's great great...(ten days later)...great great granddaughter
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You know, I don't understand that either & I am not even Asian. Why would any one not be proud of who they are. No one can say my last name either and I have just a normal German name. But I am proud of my legacy. I even have a castle somewhere in Germany, lol.
I wouldn't change my last name for anything. I am the last of my family. There is only one male & I highly doubt if he is going to get married. I know that I am not planning on getting married or having kids but at least I can remain true to my name. -
I've never known any Asians with a Western last name, but it is common for them to have Western first names.
I didn't think anyone actually cared if their last name was boring/common -
I know what you mean. Your last name is quite nice. Mine is VERY VERY common. I can understand why ppl want a different last name though. When you enter the professional world, it's an inconvenient to have such a common name. Imagine, "Dr. Nguyen" .... four or five guys turn around T_T
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As someone mentioned above, it's got to do with pronunciation. My last name is "Huang" which is an incredibly common name in China but difficult to pronounce properly in English. I've heard so many variants. But eh, I don't mind if people stuffed it up. I sometimes wished that my parents had adopted the Cantonese variant, "Wong" which is much easier to pronounce but eh, doesn't matter too much.
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Wow, I've heard of people changing their first names, but last names? (Edit, I just saw Kaylee's comment, and....yeah, that's what I was going to say
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It's true, people shouldn't be changing their last names if it has a special family/ancestral meaning. People usually address others by first names anyway, do they not? Nicknames are another matter though, but that's with first names. Wow, did that sound really weird? It did to me. -
You guys must've been hiding away from general public all your life.
The little conversation there was not made up you know! And I know others who really want to change their Asian last names because Western ones sound cooler. But Raina, I don't think last names have to have a special family/ancestral meaning for people to stick to it. Isn't your last name just part of you?
My last name's not even supposed to pronounced as "Sun" so pronunciation shouldn't matter? Changing first names is fine because since we live in a Western world, it just makes it much easier. -
Hm, I didn't know people changed their last names either! I wouldn't change my last name for anything, because I'm pretty proud of my heritage. I have a family tree as well, and though it's never going to be proven true, I'd like to believe that I'm descended from Qin Shi Huang in some way, due to the fact that my last name changed from Ying/Zhao (Qin Shi Huang's real name) to Qin. It is pretty annoying when people can't pronounce my last name, and when they come up really strange conclusions... like (Kin, or Quinn), but I still wouldn't change it for anything.
Does being 1/64 Caucasian make me a "mix"?
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Ooooh that's cool being a descendant from him. Hah I'm 1/64 Dutch too.
Sure, of course we're mixes. -
Hey you! I saw your personal, and you live in NZ? I live in nz too! Ha ha, funny.
What part of Auckland are you from? I have so many Taiwanese friends in Auckalnd. -
I love my surname and wouldn't change it for the world (except my future hubby, or course) Lim is a very common surname in my country (and majority of the students in my school are Lims)
All I know is that I originated from a place in China called Shantou (my parents call it Swatau) and also some other place (I forgot the name).
Chinese names are lovely imho -
Hmm... the surname bears a resemblance of the family tree.
I thought my surname is Lau, but it is actually Liu. Lau is the cantonese transliteration of Liu. And some of my sisters do not like changing their surnames too, as they were also proud of their heritage.
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Dude, your family is so cool for having a book of family trees. We have no records beyond three generations, even though I've been trying to piece it together in vain.
I love my last name - Yu. Can "yu" get cooler than that?! Ahahah...
I agree that changing names is lame. So what, it looks better on a resume for an elitist and racist employer? Wait till the interview.
Btw hope the 28 Books in 2008 Challenge is going well! Happy reading =D -
Forgot to mention (did my last comment go thru? o_O) my cousins are Suns! Small world, then again, it's pretty common.
I also know this girl whose last name is E. That's it. It's not an initial =OO (it's pronounced in Chinese like "hungry") I think she's gonna have trouble when it comes to filling-in any sort of forms, poor girl.
@ForteXIV and Rilla - I LOVE THE LAST NAME OU-YANG, it's so so literary and artistic and cool beyond words =D -
Lol I've only read 1 book for the book challenge. XD I'll only get to read more during the holidays.
Yeah Sun is quite a common one. Oh well, still not changing it. But damn I want "E" for my surname too. -
I do agree with you. I am myself, a mix of 4 different countries and one of them is western. However, I do have an Asian surname. I don't want to ditch it , I want to live up with it. It's just fun that I am what I am and I will not change.
And I don't want to change anyway. -
Oooooooooooooooooooo....i never knew you had a blog
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Sun is definitely not a rare last name, nor is it only prominent in the southeast. In the northeast where I came from, I knew many people whose last name is sun (or suen, if you translate literally). My last name is Meng, from Meng Zi, a literary teacher similar to Suen Zi. I am definitely not ashamed of my last name, or my name altogether since that's what I am called normally. To me the most important thing is to be proud of my origin and my country
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It's nice to hear who other people's different ancestors are. I definitely know Meng Zi!
To me the most important thing is to be proud of my origin and my country
That was what I've been advocating for all along. Just because we're in a Western country doesn't mean we should forget where we came from. -
(Your site is gorgeous, by the way. First time commenting, I think.)
I get irritated by my last name sometimes, because it just looks ugly in my handwriting. But I'm keeping it (well, but I might write under the pseudonym Venn, as it just sounds so awesome). It would feel like a terrible loss not to have that last name, and I'd like to be able to brag about my relatives should they become famous sometime in the next twenty years!
Your family tree is amazing. *is envious* -
Yeeeeeeeeeeep!
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lol yeah my friend was saying how Ou-Young is cool cos all the martial arts heroes are named Ou-Young ahahaha
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Back in high school, a Singaporean acquaintance of mine came to Australia and changed her last name to Gold. I.e. her original last name is the Chinese equivalent of Gold.
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^ I have a friend who changed his last name to Stone where it was the Chinese equivalent of Stone and I consider that fine because they still mean the same thing essentially.
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I'm absolutely not ashamed of my ancestry, but I'm not proud of it either. I'm grateful to my ancestors, but I don't feel right taking pride in what they accomplished because I had nothing to do with their accomplishments.
But! I doubt that I will change my last name, even after marriage. I'm not particularly fond of it, but it ties me to my father's family and it's my name.
Also, like Kaylee, I don't know of anyone who changed an Asian last name to a Western one. -
Haha that's so interesting. I've never heard of a family that has their family tree in a book, or has been able to track down their family tree. I mean, it'd be interesting, I've just never seen it done.
Sun is so different in English, than its original meaning and pronunciation in Chinese though. It's weird. I mean... sun in English is like, sun, moon, stars! Ball of fire. But in Chinese, or at least from the name Sun Tzi it's pronounced quite different and completely different meaning. I never would have picked that up if you didn't mention it though... I thought your surname Sun would've come from an English country. Heh. Your history is pretty damn cool, I would indeed be proud of it =P -
My friend's name is Sun.
I've never heard of anyone else with that last name, so it's cool that your name is that as well!
My last name... No one can ever pronounce it (even though it's written just as it should be pronounced). Nishimura.
All you have to do is pronounce it the way it's written, but they can't.
And they NEVER pronounce my first name correctly.
My mom jokingly suggested a few times to change our last name to "Nira" just so that people can pronounce it (it means garlic chives in Japanese, too) 韮.
But of course, we won't.
And I'll like to marry into a name that's a little more accessible than mine.
And I'd totally love a book of my ancestry... But unfortunately, because my name is 西村, there was probably one in every village... or even a whole village to the west of some providence?
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I've adopted a Western first name, mainly because nobody who's not Chinese can ever pronounce my given Chinese name. But I'd never change to a Western last name; I'm not even sure I want to change my last name after marriage. Because really, I agree with you, that's who you are.
] which is cool.
And I don't think 'Sun' is as 'absurd' as Moon or Star; I'm sure it has a completely different meaning in its original language [that probably doesn't mean "Sun"