Chinese Name and English Name

[LaurenAmber]

I've been pondering this for a while and can't seem to find the answer anywhere on the net.

 

When my husband and I registered our marriage the form had a place for my English name and Chinese name. At the time my husband hadn't given me a Chinese name so we left it blank and all was fine.

 

But now I'm curious because I work with many Chinese people and they carry both an English and Chinese name. And they say when they do papers for China they must put both names.

 

How can you have two names legally? And I mean they don't have like English first and Chinese middle. There are two seperate names. My husband has since given me a Chinese name too, and when we were in China it was so much easier for introductions and things.

 

So i'm just curious now about how someone can have both names legally? I've seen various papers since them that give me two boxes, one for Chinese and one for English.

 

I also wonder because my husband wants to use his English name (Chinese name too difficult for Americans haha) but he doesn't want to do a name change and lose his Chinese name.

[dnoblett]

My wife has an English "Nic-Name" Rosemary but does not use it for any legal papers or forms, so is not listed as "Other Names Used" on forms like G-325A etc..

 

When we married her we made her family name her middle name, and it is this way on SS Card, Green Card, State ID, College records, etc...

 

Note you may be confusing Pinyin "Mandarin Phonetic" (Romanized) name with "English" name.

 

The forms for immigrations indicated to write name in native script as well as Romanized.

 

My Wife is Yu Yang in Pinyin (English ?? Romanized) and ÑîìÏ in Chinese.

 

US citizens do not adopt a Chinese name.

Edited December 9, 2008 by dnoblett (see edit history)

[Sebastian]

I wouldn't worry about this. Just work out 'Mop-Slapped' in Chinese for his name, and 'Boss' in Chinese for your name. Easy-Peasy.

[LaurenAmber]

My wife has an English "Nic-Name" Rosemary but does not use it for any legal papers or forms, so is not listed as "Other Names Used" on forms like G-325A etc..

 

When we married her we made her family name her middle name, and it is this way on SS Card, Green Card, State ID, College records, etc...

 

Note you may be confusing Pinyin "Mandarin Phonetic" (Romanized) name with "English" name.

 

The forms for immigrations indicated to write name in native script as well as Romanized.

 

My Wife is Yu Yang in Pinyin (English ?? Romanized) and ÑîìÏ in Chinese.

 

US citizens do not adopt a Chinese name.

 

The form said "English Name" but perhaps it did mean Pinyin. There are many countries that use characters for names, and since it was a generic "foreigner" form, that may have been it. My husband did teach me how to write my first name in Chinese characters, would there ever be a need for me to use it in China? And my Chinese name is really just for the benefit of all my asian friends lol. A name containing multiple L and R sounds seems to be the bane of my friends and family's existence lol. So my husband found a name that just made things easier.

 

As for wanting to adopt his English name but not lose his Chinese name, could we do something like make his Chinese name his middle name and English his first?

 

 

 

I wouldn't worry about this. Just work out 'Mop-Slapped' in Chinese for his name, and 'Boss' in Chinese for your name. Easy-Peasy.

 

 

The name he chose for me is actually very sweet lol, but he does apologize to his "dear princess" when he screws up LOL The one time he almost got mop-slapped he also had food poisoning. The poor thing was certain he was going to die (first brush with food poisoning i guess lol) I just couldn't mop-slap him lol. No Happy Hour seems to be a better threat than mop-slap

[shushuweiwei]

My wife has an English "Nic-Name" Rosemary but does not use it for any legal papers or forms, so is not listed as "Other Names Used" on forms like G-325A etc..

 

When we married her we made her family name her middle name, and it is this way on SS Card, Green Card, State ID, College records, etc...

 

Note you may be confusing Pinyin "Mandarin Phonetic" (Romanized) name with "English" name.

 

The forms for immigrations indicated to write name in native script as well as Romanized.

 

My Wife is Yu Yang in Pinyin (English ?? Romanized) and ÑîìÏ in Chinese.

 

US citizens do not adopt a Chinese name.

 

Hey, I recognize that family name from my "you're a member of the family now" commemorative kuai zi.

 

Just between you and I...aren't Yang girls the best?

 

I can make her laugh for hours just by repeating my rendition of "how Americans will say your family name." I want her to get it out of her system before someone at the POE says it and she does a spit take in their face.

[Sebastian]

LaurenAmber - oh wow, that's a sure sign I'm an old geezer now - 'No Happy Hour' label - I had to think really long about wtf this meant. Oh. Double Oh. I get it, now...

[dnoblett]

My wife has an English "Nic-Name" Rosemary but does not use it for any legal papers or forms, so is not listed as "Other Names Used" on forms like G-325A etc..

 

When we married her we made her family name her middle name, and it is this way on SS Card, Green Card, State ID, College records, etc...

 

Note you may be confusing Pinyin "Mandarin Phonetic" (Romanized) name with "English" name.

 

The forms for immigrations indicated to write name in native script as well as Romanized.

 

My Wife is Yu Yang in Pinyin (English ?? Romanized) and ÑîìÏ in Chinese.

 

US citizens do not adopt a Chinese name.

 

The form said "English Name" but perhaps it did mean Pinyin. There are many countries that use characters for names, and since it was a generic "foreigner" form, that may have been it. My husband did teach me how to write my first name in Chinese characters, would there ever be a need for me to use it in China? And my Chinese name is really just for the benefit of all my asian friends lol. A name containing multiple L and R sounds seems to be the bane of my friends and family's existence lol. So my husband found a name that just made things easier.

 

As for wanting to adopt his English name but not lose his Chinese name, could we do something like make his Chinese name his middle name and English his first?

 

 

 

I wouldn't worry about this. Just work out 'Mop-Slapped' in Chinese for his name, and 'Boss' in Chinese for your name. Easy-Peasy.

 

:roller:

 

The name he chose for me is actually very sweet lol, but he does apologize to his "dear princess" when he screws up LOL The one time he almost got mop-slapped he also had food poisoning. The poor thing was certain he was going to die (first brush with food poisoning i guess lol) I just couldn't mop-slap him lol. No Happy Hour seems to be a better threat than mop-slap

 

This may require legal paperwork after arrival in the USA, first "given" names tend to require a legal name change.

 

In our case we married in NY State, and the marriage license allowed for this, first "Given" name tends be required to remain unchanged, but since she had no "Middle" name, we simply made her family name her middle name.