To those who have yet to change their names:)

Choosing the right English name for you
Written by Alex Cureton-Griffiths

{mosimage}Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, William Jefferson Blythe, Rolihlahla Mandela, Eldrick Woods. No idea who these people are? I can't blame you -- history knows them as Mother Teresa, Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela and Tiger Woods. Your name can mean the difference between success and failure, so don't choose it lightly.

Now, if you're Chinese, it's relatively easy to adopt or change your English name. The question is, which name should you be using?

Do you need an English name?

First of all you should decide if you even need an English name. Some Chinese names are no trouble for foreigners to pronounce and remember, so in this case you could just use your existing name. On the other hand, some sounds and spellings in Mandarin can really confuse non-Chinese. If your (Chinese pinyin) name contains r,z, zh, or c then foreigners may have difficulty pronouncing it.

No matter what, it's better to have a Chinese name that foreigners can't understand than to have a terrible English name that makes you look bad.

Be conservative

Even if you think outside the box in other aspects of your life, your name should generally be conservative if you want people to take you seriously. This is especially true for more traditional fields like finance, government or law, but is also the case for almost any profession out there.

Generally, choosing a name from Royalty (Charles, Elizabeth, Henry, Victoria), religion (John, Paul, Mary) or history (Alexander, Martin, Ben) is a good bet. Even in these categories though, don't choose anything uncommon or controversial (Adolf, Jesus, Ezekial or Rasputin for example)

Don't be cool

Naming yourself after your favorite pop star or other celebrity is a bad idea. Many celebrities have weird names themselves (Paris, Shia or Britney for example) and that makes it stand out like a sore thumb. Secondly, to some people, naming yourself after a celebrity can make you seem shallow and not very serious. Finally, anything your celebrity namesake does can reflect badly on you. Calling yourself Britney wouldn't have been so bad when she was at number one, but things didn't look so good when she shaved her hair and lost her children.

Don't name yourself after objects

When I was a kid, our family had two pet cows. I named them Honour and Bravery and I never stopped getting teased about it. While it's unlikely anyone will pick on you, naming yourself after an object, like Candy, Kitty or Sky, is generally a bad idea -- it just seems really strange.

Don't be too original

This one goes out to all the Pollos, Bloodbears and Darlings. If your name's completely unique, it's probably for a good reason -- mostly because no one ever wanted to call their child that. Listen to those wise parents. This also goes for "interesting" spellings of names, like Tarcy, Sherree or Krystina.

Be sure you use the right gender

Jackie is usually a woman's name. If you're unsure of the gender of your name, search Google Images and see what pictures come up. If they're the same gender as you, then it might be worth considering. If they're the opposite gender, perhaps not. If it's all pictures of dogs, definitely not.

Make sure your name is easy to spell and pronounce

First of all, make sure you can pronounce and spell your own name. If you don't know what it should sound like, then you probably shouldn't be considering it in the first place. Then make sure your colleagues can pronounce it from just reading it. Finally, if people keep making mistakes, it's usually easier to change your name than to keep correcting them.

How can I tell if I have a bad name?

Ask foreign friends and colleagues for their honest opinion. They've lived with foreign culture all their lives, so they may be able to give you insight as to why a name may or may not be suitable. A name is a very cultural thing, so someone who has lived in the culture for a long time will be able to give you a good answer.

More fun with Google Images

• If it's all pictures of the same person, be very careful. They may be a celebrity. If they're a current celebrity, reconsider your name. If not, research them some more and then decide.
• If it's all pictures of objects (cats, dogs, candy), reconsider your name.
• If it's all pictures of someone the opposite gender, reconsider your name.
• If you forget how to type your name into the search box, definitely change your name

More inspiration

For more ideas, check out books of baby names and Nymbler, a baby name search tool.

source: http://shanghainn.com/networking-with-foreigners/expats/choosing-the-right-english-name-for-you.html