What's In A Name

Apparently, a Chinese couple tried to name their baby this symbol.

There are strange sounding "Westernized" names that many Chinese people give themselves, especially those who work with foreigners. I have come across "Silke", "Yippe", "Fancy" just to name a few.

The idea is that these names are easier to remember than Chinese names spelt in HanYu PinYin. Many non-Chinese speakers find it hard to pronounce, let alone remember strange sounding names like Xu Qinjin or Zhang Xinli. Even Chinese speakers like me find it tough. I think it would be easier to remember if one knows the Chinese characters for the name as they actually mean something, since remembering Chinese characters is kinda like having to remember pictograms or logograms.

So if I were to introduce you to a girl named Meilian, for example, it would be easier to remember her as beautiful lotus (which is what the name means).

With China's economy expanding faster than the speed of light, & the Internet inundating everyone's lives, it is inevitable that sooner or later, someone would come up with the idea of naming his child "@", poor kid.

Actually, I think being named @ may not be too bad after all, compared to Tabooger, Fifi-Trixiebelle or I.P. Freely according to this website of Strange Celebrity Baby Names.