People with Chinese Names at a Disadvantage?
Posted by Cottontimer on 17 Sep 2009 | Tagged as: Me
Not in China or other Chinese-speaking countries of course but for those of us naturalized Chinese-Americans who never bothered choosing an Anglo name, it might have been a mistake.
Applicants with Chinese names fared the worst, having only a one-in-five chance of getting asked in for interviews, compared to applicants with Anglo-Saxon names whose chances exceeded one-in-three.
Australian bosses racist: study | Foreign or indigenous names ‘decrease job chance’
In any case, I get all confused here in Singapore because of the way people order their names. This morning I was told that I should be writing my name as LastName FirstName because I only have a Chinese name and no Anglo name but I have always written my name FirstName LastName as would be the case in all English-speaking countries! I was going to go along with Singaporean convention of LastName FirstName but after reading this article, I’d rather not.
Bastardized English Names
Please do not use the bastardized English naming convention of LastName FirstName:
Lee Mo Rongso commonly found here in Singapore. It will only confuse everyone outside of Singapore.
Do you want to go global or do you want to sit in your well?
And let’s not even start with the hyphen in my name which Singapore has decided not to recognize. Really think I should have chosen an Anglo name years ago. How does Fifi sound?
Related Posts:
Hyphenated Names...
Alphabetizing Names...
How does your name stack up?...
Unforgettable...
Is your name too masculine or feminine?...
Dee-ablo or Die-ablo?...
Is it so bad to mention someone’s ethnicity?...
If your comment doesn't show up immediately, it's probably in moderation. I will approve it as soon as I can! Thanks for your patience.
6 Comments
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.




ROFL! Fifi indeed!
Alright. Maybe not Fifi. How about…Candy?
Sorry. That should be Candie.
Hah! I shall write my name whatever & whichever way I so wish, and so be it.
I couldn’t care about convention in any country. If we’re talking about global … why not think of China as the upcoming “global” influence instead? LOL.
In any case, I’d rather write my Chinese name as how it’s called. Surname/Name.
Actually, in Singapore, for the birth certificate, you can write the child’s name in ANY order you wish.
My Chinese name has no hyphen by the way! The sounds of the 2 characters joined together. No separate words. But to keep to that is respecting our elders.
Fifi. Perfect. Really, all that name switching sounds insane…
I think of you more as a Sandra Dee.