The choice: To Americanize, or not to Americanize?
There is one part of every test in college that the majority of students will get right: Name. But for some students, filling in that blank space isn't as simple as just writing what's on their birth certificates.
At a university like Tufts, which boasts a high number of international students in both undergraduate and graduate programs, name-changing is relatively frequent.
Some students come to college with their "traditional" names, plus an English name; others come overseas and acquire new names upon arrival.
Jane Etish-Andrews, the director of the Tufts International Center, explained that in her experience, some students are more likely to change their names than others.
"The students I've seen who tend to anglicize their names are Asian students whose names are really difficult to pronounce and remember for English-speakers," Etish-Andrews said.
Senior Yongzhong Wang - who goes by William in America - is a prime example. Wang's English high school teacher in China started calling Wang William in order to remember him better.
"[My teacher] is a wonderful person, but only spoke poor Chinese at the beginning of his teaching career," Wang said. "He gave each of us an English name so that it was easier for him to remember us."
The ease-of-use factor held over when Wang came to America. "I started to use this name [William] after I left China in 1999, and also after I came to the USA in 2001," Wang said. "It did make it easier for people who do not speak Chinese as their first language to say my name and remember me."
Having two different names can be confusing for some people. Senior KaHo Chor's e-mail address reads Ka.Chor@tufts.edu. Most people, however, know him by his English name: Brian.
"If I send an e-mail out of nowhere to a professor and he doesn't know me, I have to parenthesize that I am both KaHo and Brian," he said.
Etish-Andrews also noticed that there are generally two types of alternative names: those acquired by students as children, and those chosen as adults upon relocation.
"Sometimes, undergraduate students might have an English name that they adopted earlier on because they were born in the U.S.," she said.
Graduate students often fall in the second group, as "they tend to be coming from overseas, and haven't had the exposure to the English-speaking environment," Etish-Andrews said.
Another possible reason for a set of two names is religion: "[The second name] might also be a Christian name - sometimes, it's based out of religion," Etish-Andrews said.
Chor's parents chose his English name because his family is Catholic. "I've always had my English name, because I'm Catholic, so sometimes my parents use my English name even at home," said Chor, who lives in China.
Anthropology Lecturer Erick Castellanos, who studies identity and political anthropology, explained that the historical reasons for name-changes are different than contemporary ones.
"For people who came to Ellis Island, the officials would recommend that immigrants change their names," he said.
The identity aspect of name-changing has always been important for those who choose different names.
"Even historically, there was this attitude that they were coming to America and their identity was changing because of this process," Castellanos said.
For students who do go by two different names, the majority have an English name they use with most people and a traditional name they use with other members of their ethnic community.
For Wang, his Chinese name will always be his real name. "I always keep my official name, the one given by my father," he said. "And I always go with my Chinese name with those who can speak proper Chinese."
Associate Professor of Child Development, Jayanthi Mistry, who studies ethnic identity development in children, said that the use of two names relates to a person's straddling and understanding of two different cultures.
"I think it is more appropriate to consider the choice an individual makes to Americanize his/her name or use two names - an ethnic one and an Americanized one - as a reflection of how he/she understands, negotiates and comes to terms with his/her bicultural identities [than how it affects his or her 'single identity']," Mistry said.
For Chor, there is a hidden tension between his two cultural name identities. "I think in a way I sort of have a dual identity," he said. "When I'm Brian, I'm more American, in a way, because I use it in everyday life. But when I use KaHo, I feel more Chinese. It's more in my subconscious. It doesn't show when I'm with my friends, but deep down I feel like it's a bit different."
The level of comfort within the two different cultures can affect a person's choice to go by a certain name or another.
"When children have experienced navigating between multiple 'cultural worlds' and have been supported in these experiences, they are comfortable with their biculturality, and will likely be comfortable with their ethnic names or with using both," Mistry explained.
Chor believes that his extended stay in America will contribute to his comfort level with his English name.
"I am getting into grad school, so I'll be here for another five years - so I might identify more with Brian the longer I'm here," he said.
New monikers have impact on students' identities
While changing one's name may make communication easier in a new country, for most people the idea of going by a different moniker is jarring. The reasons for switching are different for everyone, and the impact on social and ethnic identity varies along with the purpose.
According to Anthropology Lecturer Erick Castellanos, the desire to change one's name depends on the social context.
"If the person ends up in an ethnic enclave living with people that are like them, it's very unlikely they'll change their names," he said. "If they end up with people who are very different and those people have difficulty with their names, they're more likely to change it."
Senior Yongzhong Wang, a student from China who goes by William in the United States, said that he doesn't feel as though his identity has been affected by his English name - in fact, it makes him feel more comfortable in social situations.
"It makes me feel good to avoid listening to people saying my name in a funny way and seemingly never getting it right, no matter how many times I teach them and how willing they are to learn," Wang said. "It did not seem to affect my education, identity, whatever."
For others, changing one's name is a matter of fact when translating between very different languages.
"In some communities, like Asian communities, they're changing their names from something that is hard to transcribe into English," Castellanos said. "So it might be the same last name, transcribed in a very different way...in that case, it's more about convenience and transcription rather than about a change in identity."
Senior KaHo Chor, who hails from China but has always had an English name as part of his Catholic upbringing, uses his American name because it is easier for other people to pronounce and remember.
"I think having an English name is convenient - I don't have a preference because I like both names," he said. "But when I think of other people, if I go by Brian it's easier for them."
A young person's choice to use one name over another depends partly on his or her developmental stage and the social context, according to Associate Professor of Child Development Jayanthi Mistry.
"The choices may also be a function of certain aspects of the context of their development," Mistry said.
"When a child is one of a very small minority in his/her school, during the time of life when peer approval and conformity is very important, then it may be more comfortable for a child to use an Americanized name," he continued.
In other contexts, though, ethnic names are more comfortable for children.
"If a child is a member of a minority ethnic group in a situation where there is at least a cohort of others like her or him, then the child may be comfortable with using an ethnic name or using both - in other words, the child may be more comfortable with his/her biculturality," Mistry added.
Castellanos agreed. "I think it depends on the context - if you're in a community where you're interacting with a lot of your co-nationals, there probably isn't a lot of pressure [to change your name]," he said.
On the other hand, "in some communities it [name change] might occur more often. In general, communities that have surnames that are quite difficult to pronounce or are very long might be inclined to change their names," he said.
A person's own evaluation of the surrounding population may determine one's choice to change one's name.
According to Castellanos, young people tend to determine one of their environments as more positive than the other, which leads to an identification with one over the other.
"At a point, people start to value these [social] spaces - one is seen as more positive, one as more negative," he said. "They'll try to gravitate away from that toward the more positive one."
"So if American society or the American culture then becomes the positive, then their foreign-sounding name becomes a liability in terms of negotiating who they want to be. If they're alienated from society, they'll start to re-assert it and define their ethnic identity," Castellanos added.
The cultural pressure to assimilate depends on the community in which a person has moved. Whether or not some countries - like the United States - encourage assimilation more than others is up for debate.
"I think cultural contexts do vary in terms of the pressures on people to assimilate. But this is a dynamic process even within a country that changes with historical, political and social forces and circumstances," Mistry said.
