Thank you for sharing! I love the deliberation that went into each name. It's interesting that "sharing" a name is taboo in Chinese culture--how far back does that typically stretch? I would imagine the typical Chinese family known more of their own genealogy than a typical American family, though I could be off base. Most people I know can easily rattle off their grandparents, maybe great grandparents and then they don't know.
I accidentally share one character with one of my four great-grandmothers, on my maternal side, and because my mother is illiterate in Chinese, she did not recognize it was the same character. My name is Lai Hee (which translates to "come happiness", i.e. bringer of happiness.. it has similar connotations associated with the name Joy or Dawn), and my great-grandmother was named Jin Xi.
On the surface, it doesn't look the same, because my name is transliterated into English from the Heng Hua dialect of Chinese, whereas my greatgrandmother's name is written in Mandarin. But really, Hee and Xi are the same character, 喜.
It was a big disgrace when my paternal grandparents found out years later...
It's interesting that sharing one character with another generation is a disgrace, but with a sister it's a family tie. The subtleties of culture are fascinating to me.
I think, also in English, since it's not immediately apparent what their names mean, it's a little different than the deliberations needed in Chinese.
Since we don't have proper nouns, everybody is named things like "White Fawn", "Soft Wind", or "Strong Bamboo"... I think people (friends, teachers, adults) will make associations before meeting you, and after meeting you, based on your name.
I kept my maiden name, in Cantonese it would be Wong, in Mandarin it would be Huang. I'm Heng Hua on my dad's side, so we pronounce it (and it's written legally) as Ng.
E and A both only use 黄 as part of their name only when using their name in Chinese. It is not attached to their legal name.
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On the surface, it doesn't look the same, because my name is transliterated into English from the Heng Hua dialect of Chinese, whereas my greatgrandmother's name is written in Mandarin. But really, Hee and Xi are the same character, 喜.
It was a big disgrace when my paternal grandparents found out years later...
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It's interesting that sharing one character with another generation is a disgrace, but with a sister it's a family tie. The subtleties of culture are fascinating to me.
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I think, also in English, since it's not immediately apparent what their names mean, it's a little different than the deliberations needed in Chinese.
Since we don't have proper nouns, everybody is named things like "White Fawn", "Soft Wind", or "Strong Bamboo"... I think people (friends, teachers, adults) will make associations before meeting you, and after meeting you, based on your name.
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
E and A both only use 黄 as part of their name only when using their name in Chinese. It is not attached to their legal name.
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(The comment has been removed)
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