This was a lovely read. I’ve just written a post about identity and it being nebulous and ever changing. So many people I know go by different names to the ones they were born with. I really love that final paragraph as yes, who we are goes way beyond a name.
Hi Rachel! You came up as a suggested follow on my feed and it was lovely to find we have a bunch of things in common. I'm also Chinese-Malaysian, though I grew up in Australia and my Cantonese is very basic. Like you, my dad's name is Heng. Because I was the first grandchild on my mother's side, they were also hoping for a boy, but I did get a girl's name and reflected on the meaning of my name here: https://suansita.substack.com/p/living-up-to-my-name.
It looks like there are similar themes in our writing, so I'm keen to follow along and stay connected. Also, I'd love to live in Germany (or anywhere in Europe) someday!
I can so relate to this post! When I was a teen, I shared my first name with three others in my form at school. So my name became ordinary. It didn’t help that my name didn’t feel like “me”. Only when my non-Indian friends complimented me on the sound of my name, did I slowly began to appreciate it. Good on you, Rachel!
This 👉 "I cannot deny that, by adopting a new name, I have taken destiny and fate into my own hands; I have defined my identity." 👏👏👏
Thank you, by the way, for including me. Since it feels like an old post, I added a voiceover like my newer ones. So, cheers for the refresher!
This topic is also something I never tire of. It's always fascinating to hear name stories and I had no idea of your backstory. Your Friends' Rachel reference reminded me of my friend Brad in Thailand. No one could say his name until we said, "you know, like Brad Pitt" and viola, suddenly, no problems! 😅
Sorry, I did not specify in which dialect my name was, I'll add to the footnote next, it is actually in the Hokkien dialect. So the Mandarin equivalent (if we assumed correctly, Ah Gong to confirm), is Xin. Hence, my friend gave me 欣. :)
So lovely to learn a bit more about your name(s). My name means wisdom which is obviously entirely correct 🤣 I do agree though that we are so much more than just our names.
Beautiful. How many of us change our names in a lifetime for various reasons? When we're born, we're not given a choice. It's actually super interesting to me!
This was such a wonderful read, and I love how you’ve found a meaningful relationship with each of your names. What a great reminder about the Chinese tradition of 字. I’m inspired to come up with my own one day.
Over the years it is interesting how as I shifted and evolved in my identity multiple times, I continued feeling connected to my name, except I chose to always place my first name ahead of my family name now and spell it together rather than apart, which has symbolic significance for me too.
Your reflections made me think about how we both reclaim and reconnect with who we are in choosing how we want to name not just ourselves, but our experiences.
This was a lovely read. I’ve just written a post about identity and it being nebulous and ever changing. So many people I know go by different names to the ones they were born with. I really love that final paragraph as yes, who we are goes way beyond a name.
Thank you, Amanda! Glad you like it. Heading over to read your post on identity now :)
Hi Rachel! You came up as a suggested follow on my feed and it was lovely to find we have a bunch of things in common. I'm also Chinese-Malaysian, though I grew up in Australia and my Cantonese is very basic. Like you, my dad's name is Heng. Because I was the first grandchild on my mother's side, they were also hoping for a boy, but I did get a girl's name and reflected on the meaning of my name here: https://suansita.substack.com/p/living-up-to-my-name.
It looks like there are similar themes in our writing, so I'm keen to follow along and stay connected. Also, I'd love to live in Germany (or anywhere in Europe) someday!
Hi Suansita, lovely to meet you here! Wow, we do have a lot in common. I'll head over now to check out your post :)
I can so relate to this post! When I was a teen, I shared my first name with three others in my form at school. So my name became ordinary. It didn’t help that my name didn’t feel like “me”. Only when my non-Indian friends complimented me on the sound of my name, did I slowly began to appreciate it. Good on you, Rachel!
Thank you Sharmila. You have a nice name indeed :) sometimes we just need time to get acquainted with our names, I'm glad you appreciate yours now!
This was an amazing read Rachel! 😭
And the way closed it out it was beautiful.
Thank you, Jamal! This means a lot to me :) I am glad you enjoyed it.
This 👉 "I cannot deny that, by adopting a new name, I have taken destiny and fate into my own hands; I have defined my identity." 👏👏👏
Thank you, by the way, for including me. Since it feels like an old post, I added a voiceover like my newer ones. So, cheers for the refresher!
This topic is also something I never tire of. It's always fascinating to hear name stories and I had no idea of your backstory. Your Friends' Rachel reference reminded me of my friend Brad in Thailand. No one could say his name until we said, "you know, like Brad Pitt" and viola, suddenly, no problems! 😅
Good idea to refresh the post. Someday I'll come around to try out voiceover too :)
I used to think this name complication must be me or to some extent Malaysians, but now I see it's also to many others!
Fancy being compared to Brad Pitt haha!
Heng, could be 恒， meaning constant, lasting. It actually works well with 欣- 恒欣：lasting joy 😊
Sorry, I did not specify in which dialect my name was, I'll add to the footnote next, it is actually in the Hokkien dialect. So the Mandarin equivalent (if we assumed correctly, Ah Gong to confirm), is Xin. Hence, my friend gave me 欣. :)
So lovely to learn a bit more about your name(s). My name means wisdom which is obviously entirely correct 🤣 I do agree though that we are so much more than just our names.
I love your name Sophie, I almost wanted to name my daughter with it. I got acquainted with it during the time I was immersing in philosophy. :)
Beautiful. How many of us change our names in a lifetime for various reasons? When we're born, we're not given a choice. It's actually super interesting to me!
Thanks, Jenna! Yes, we all weren't given the choice initially for obvious reasons, but it's liberating to be able to choose when we can and want to.
This was such a wonderful read, and I love how you’ve found a meaningful relationship with each of your names. What a great reminder about the Chinese tradition of 字. I’m inspired to come up with my own one day.
Over the years it is interesting how as I shifted and evolved in my identity multiple times, I continued feeling connected to my name, except I chose to always place my first name ahead of my family name now and spell it together rather than apart, which has symbolic significance for me too.
Your reflections made me think about how we both reclaim and reconnect with who we are in choosing how we want to name not just ourselves, but our experiences.