Do You Like Your Name?

My official name is actually my Chinese name, which translates to Jade. Growing up I only went by my Chinese name. We lived in a very White neighborhood, so I was constantly made fun of. No one knew how to properly pronounce my name; I would always hear it so severely butchered. Even if I tried to correct them they couldn't figure out how to make the right sound because there is no sound similar to it in the English language.  Needless to say, I hated my name.  I hated being so different.  Maybe I was spit in the face on the school bus because my face is flat, my eyes are slanted, and my name is too weird to pronounce.

I wanted to be a Jennifer. I was envious of my two good friends, Jen and Jen-Jen (she was nicknamed Jen-Jen because there was 6 other Jennifers in the class!) I liked Jen-Jen's name in particular, since her name was common but unique enough. I thought maybe I could be a "Jenn".  

After high school I found the perfect opportunity to create a new identity and go by just Jade. I didn't have to correct people when they mispronounced my name. A lot of people started telling me how envious they were of how unique my name is. 

I did once have a college professor tell me once that my name sounds like an Asian porn star name (she only said it because her name also translated to Jade in Chinese but chose not to go by that name). I also constantly get confused as "Jane" at Starbucks. I haven't found a way to emphasize the "D" without sounding ridiculous. 


Now that I'm older, I actually love my Chinese name.  I love that my name was specifically chosen by my parents.  I love that my siblings and I have similar names.  In Chinese culture it is common that siblings share a common character in their name.  My aunt is going to Taiwan later this year, and I've asked her to make an ink-stamp with my name and each of my siblings names.  I'm going to have the ink stamp tattooed actually.  One of my sisters already has a tattoo like this (i didn't like her ink stamp design so I'm having another one made!)  In the end, it's still annoying to hear my Chinese name butchered, so it's just easier to go by Jade.  It's not because I am ashamed of my Chinese name.  Rather I think it's kind of fun explaining to people that my name translates to Jade.  I like that it's super unique, but is an approachable (pronounceable) name.