Why do Chinese Have Two Names?
Last September, I traveled to Kyoto, Japan and stayed in a hostel for 2 days. The first person I talked to, besides the guesthouse host, was a girl from Germany. She introduced her name (but I forget what it is now) and then I introduced myself as Wendy. At that moment, I could see a glimpse of surprise in her eyes but she still bought it. Later, I said "You can call me YA-CHUN too. It’s my Chinese name.” She asked, “Why do you have two names? Isn’t it weird?” It took me a lot of effort to explain why.
Coincidentally, 10 days ago, I went to Taipei and stayed in another hostel. The first foreigner I talked to happened to be ANOTHER German girl. Again. She introduced herself as “Ara" and I introduced myself as Wendy. Since she is currently learning Chinese, I taught her how to pronounce my Chinese name. It is actually difficult to make it since the [ tɕ y ən] sound seldom appeared in German and English. (It sounds like “June” in English.) Then she asked me the same question: why do you have two names? It didn’t take long to explain this time. But then I realized it may be really weird and difficult for people outside Taiwan to understand.
While my host in Japan shortened his name to “Taka”, the first syllable of his family name, and Ara shortened her German name “Aranka” to “Ara” (I can speak German actually), my English name and Chinese name don’t have any…
