What’s in your name?

While queuing up to buy lunch at KFC today, I saw a female KFC crew
attending to the line next to mine with a name tag that read,
“Devily.”

I really shouldn’t be surprise by now, having been in this region
of Hong Kong and mainland China for more than 6 years now. As a
teacher, quite often I will encounter students with similarly
interesting English names.

Here are some examples: Moderate, Wise, Milk, Zero, Chlorophyll,
Midway, Devil, Muscle, etc. I’m sure you would have contributions
to this list.

For Hong Kong, I was told that this is part of the British legacy.
You see, early British teachers had difficulties pronouncing and
remembering Chinese names. And so, they gave their students English
names like Apple, Orange, Rainbow, etc. just so they can identify
the individual students. As such, the purpose of having an English
name became one of being different from the rest and standing out
from the crowd.

This is unfortunate.

Whichever the language, your name is your identify! It identifies
who you are as a person here on earth. While it should carry the
component that you are unique, your name should also bear your
attributes, aspirations and, perhaps, history.

In other words, your name must have meaning that is relevant to you
and, hopefully, that you can be proud of or aspire to become. It
should serve as a source of inspiration to you as well.

To choose a name that has little or no meaning (what’s worst will
be names with silly or irrelevant meanings) and use it as a label
for yourself for your whole life allowing people to address you by
that is quite simply “poor branding.”

So, what does your name mean? When you introduce yourself to
others, how would they react to your name? When employers read your
resume, how will your name make them feel towards you?

If you have not adopted an English name yet, first think about what
you stand for, what YOU mean, and what YOU are all about. Then,
look for names that have meanings that best fit who you are and
what you can be.

This, I feel, is especially important for parents when they name
their children.