The Potential Psychological Cost of Using an Anglo Name |
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Adopting an Anglo name is linked to slightly lower self-esteem among Chinese students in the U.S.
The main motivation to adopt Anglo names is concern over Americans mispronouncing Chinese names.
Using an Anglo name does not affect mental, physical health, or overall well-being.
Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s former top executive, and Alice Huang, a Chinese businesswoman linked to him in recent reports, have been the subject of dozens of news stories this week. While many people are intrigued by indications of industrial espionage and marital infidelity, I’m interested in the story for a completely different reason.
Jensen Huang’s birth name is Huang Jen-Hsun. He adopted the English name Jensen after moving from Taiwan to the United States as a child. Alice Huang’s Chinese birth name is Huang Le. She uses the name Alice when conducting business outside of China. (Jensen and Alice share the same surname but are not related; Huang is a very common family name in China.)
When I was teaching, most of my students from China used an American-sounding name like Jay, Peter, or Kristi. They said they used an........