Should I change my first name to something more American?

About the Ads
8

89785206590

New Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2012
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Members don't see this ad.
I am a senior in high school, and I'm applying for naturalization. I'm considering a first name change. I'm Asian and have a pretty hard to pronounce first name. I've heard having a "foreign" name might put a distance between a doctor and her patients. If I have a name change, I'll change it into my baptism saint name in Latin form, so it's really easy to pronounce. Another benefit of this change is I won't have to correct other people for mispronunciation all the time or see people misspelling my name. So in your opinion, should I have a first name change? Just want to gather some opinions before making my decision.
 
89785206590 said:
I am a senior in high school, and I'm applying for naturalization. I'm considering a first name change. I'm Asian and have a pretty hard to pronounce first name. I've heard having a "foreign" name might put a distance between a doctor and her patients. If I have a name change, I'll change it into my baptism saint name in Latin form, so it's really easy to pronounce. Another benefit of this change is I won't have to correct other people for mispronunciation all the time or see people misspelling my name. So in your opinion, should I have a first name change? Just want to gather some opinions before making my decision.
Click to expand...

Stop right there.

I couldn't pronounce my pediatricians name so me and the nurses called her Dr. P.

Do what you think is convenient for YOU. Not what would be convenient for others. If you think your name is ghastly difficult to pronounce, you don't like your name, and you want to change it, go for it.

But personally I wouldn't care if people thought my name were difficult to pronounce.... It's MY NAME. It's not like changing your pair of socks or buying a new cologne. It's who you've been, who you are.

Cheers
 
Arijos0222 said:
Stop right there.

I couldn't pronounce my pediatricians name so me and the nurses called her Dr. P.

Do what you think is convenient for YOU. Not what would be convenient for others. If you think your name is ghastly difficult to pronounce, you don't like your name, and you want to change it, go for it.

But personally I wouldn't care if people thought my name were difficult to pronounce.... It's MY NAME. It's not like changing your pair of socks or buying a new cologne. It's who you've been, who you are.

Cheers
Click to expand...

+1 couldn't have said it better myself.

Embrace your cultural roots. You don't want to be another John, Andy, Eric, Mike, Mary, Nancy in your medical school class. You want to be the one and only <insert your name here> in your class.
 
Izanami said:
+1 couldn't have said it better myself.

Embrace your cultural roots. You don't want to be another John, Andy, Eric, Mike, Mary, Nancy in your medical school class. You want to be the one and only <insert your name here> in your class.
Click to expand...

Yes, because clearly your name is correlated with medical school success.


do whatever you want OP.
 
89785206590 said:
I am a senior in high school, and I'm applying for naturalization. I'm considering a first name change. I'm Asian and have a pretty hard to pronounce first name. I've heard having a "foreign" name might put a distance between a doctor and her patients. If I have a name change, I'll change it into my baptism saint name in Latin form, so it's really easy to pronounce. Another benefit of this change is I won't have to correct other people for mispronunciation all the time or see people misspelling my name. So in your opinion, should I have a first name change? Just want to gather some opinions before making my decision.
Click to expand...

Change your name if you want. A study recently showed that people with a white first and last name received twice the number of job offers as a person with a white first and non white last name who also received twice the number of job offers as a person with a non white first and last name. The study was done by sending the same resume with the name changed to businesses.

Clearly, there is some subtle benefits to changing your name as well. It is up to you, you can leave your current first name as a middle name to maintain your roots while also assimilating into your new culture if you want.
 
Arijos0222 said:
unneccesary sarcasm isn't appreciated on this forum 🙂
Click to expand...

lol... I must be used to pre-allo

and maybe I took slight offense since my name happened to be in the list of 'generic' names that were rattled off :laugh:
 
vanillabear55 said:
Yes, because clearly your name is correlated with medical school success.


do whatever you want OP.
Click to expand...

Lol immaculate reading comprehension 😕 I really don't see how you get to 'medical school success' from what I said. Verbal Reasoning is going to be troublesome for you 🙂


But yeah, it's totally up to the OP.
 
Izanami said:
+1 couldn't have said it better myself.

Embrace your cultural roots. You don't want to be another John, Andy, Eric, Mike, Mary, Nancy in your medical school class. You want to be the one and only <insert your name here> in your class.
Click to expand...

Izanami said:
Lol immaculate reading comprehension 😕 I really don't see how you get to 'medical school success' from what I said. Verbal Reasoning is going to be troublesome for you 🙂


But yeah, it's totally up to the OP.
Click to expand...

I guess I will have some trouble then, I want to be able to dissect passages better so could you please inform me of what the bolded statement meant?
It seems like you are suggesting that having a unique name will make you stand out in your class, therefore be better off somehow- but since I'm wrong I would like to know the author's intention. 🙂
 
Izanami said:
+1 couldn't have said it better myself.

Embrace your cultural roots. You don't want to be another John, Andy, Eric, Mike, Mary, Nancy in your medical school class. You want to be the one and only <insert your name here> in your class.
Click to expand...

You can pick a name that isn't the same John, Andy, Eric, Mike, Mary. That's the nice thing about getting to pick. Go with Axel, Parker, Spiro, Sheppard, Anderson, Ulysses, Anton, Cassius, Gus or something different enough to stand out in the crowd, but ethnically vanilla enough to get your CV looked at.
 
89785206590 said:
I am a senior in high school, and I'm applying for naturalization. I'm considering a first name change. I'm Asian and have a pretty hard to pronounce first name. I've heard having a "foreign" name might put a distance between a doctor and her patients. If I have a name change, I'll change it into my baptism saint name in Latin form, so it's really easy to pronounce. Another benefit of this change is I won't have to correct other people for mispronunciation all the time or see people misspelling my name. So in your opinion, should I have a first name change? Just want to gather some opinions before making my decision.
Click to expand...

The decision is ultimately yours to make but here are my own two cents:

I sympathize with you, being Asian myself and going through many botched pronunciations of my name over the years. There is a reason I chose this particular name for SDN.

I decided to offer an "Americanized" pronunciation of my name which helped out my friends and the non-Vietnamese speaking crew. However, I kept the name intact. My parents chose my name for a reason and I happen to like its meaning. (And very few people had my first name in all my years of schooling, so I felt like a "special snowflake".)

People will still botch my name from time to time but I don't care. It is smooth sailing after that initial correction, which they usually ask for any way.

Do not change it because you are worried about other people's perceptions (read: patients). Change it because you want to.
 
I had this really awesome substitute teacher once who asked us to correct him if he pronounced our names incorrectly. When he did, some students would say "Yeah that's fine, just say it like that". He then strongly encouraged us to teach him how to pronounce it. It is your name, other people should learn it, you shouldn't have to change it for them. I get it how it may be difficult to remember but go by abbreviations or something then. Of course if you don't like your name or it just really bothers you, that's a different story. But I'd keep my name.
 
Last edited:
This is America, do what you like and get on with it. You don't like the name which your culture and your parents give you, you can get another name. You don't like your natural hair color, you can dye it. You don't like your natural skin color, you can get tanned. You don't like you natural eye color, you can wear contact lenses. Just be sure that whatever you change does actually make you feel happy. Don't just change to please others.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for all of your input. I just want to bump this up and if anyone would like to give me additional advice, please do. I find all of these answers helpful.
 
If you weren't planning on already changing your name (b/c of personal reasons not related to your career or career prospects) then my guess is that down the line you'll regret having changed it. Unfortunately changing your name isn't as easily reversible as altering your hair color.

My advice would be to really think about for a month or two. If it's still really bugging you than feel free to change it, you'll have your new name for life so waiting a few months is negligible in the grand scheme.

Also, HEAVILY consider the fact that there's a significant chance you either won't become or won't feel like being a doctor in the future. You're not in college yet and a lot can change in 3 years. I went into college dead-set on dentistry (I chose my school b/c of its dental joint degree program) and changed my mind junior year.
 
vasca said:
I agree, I didn't know my name was also "generic" and "white". My parents gave me my name because it was a name that was easy to pronounce in english and spanish and has some celebration of my minority Basque ethnic roots if you slightly change the accent of the pronunciation of my name.

Some "white" names are now very popular in rural Mexico, I know a ton of small kids named Abigail, Jonathan, Kevin, Deisy, Shirley and Brayan. I know a few kids with clearly japanese names such as Saori, Hiroshi and Keiko. These are 100% mexican families living in rural areas with no cultural links to Asia but simply liked the names.

If the OP's name is hard to pronounce, he could change to a first name that is also ethnic but easy to pronounce and leave his birth name as a middle name. Some people think it's lame to name your kid a clearly foreign first name because it's "hip" but again I'd never name my kids common generic names such as José, Carlos, Guadalupe or María.
Click to expand...

Good advice. Me gusta.

I think this thread is dead though. 😉
 
I also hate my name because it's hard to pronounce and everyone makes fun of me for it. My first name is Dominika and I don't have a middle name. I want to change my name to Lauren Spencer. I think you should change your name too if you want to but not because of career reasons.
 
Arijos0222 said:
Good advice. Me gusta.

I think this thread is dead though. 😉
Click to expand...
Charge to 360!!! Clear!!!! Sinus rhythm is back....as is this thread!!! 🙂

On a more serious note, everyone mispronounces my name, and I automatically correct them. It's a habit now, and I'm fine with it. I have a lot of friends with names that are hard to pronounce or that people get mixed up with. I'm repeating what basically everyone posted. If you want to change your name, change it for yourself. Don't do it for others, do it because you want to do it. Does it bother you that people mess up your name? If you change your name, can you see yourself in the future with it? Why do you want to change it? How will it affect you personally if you change it? Think of those things before you change your name.
 
What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

E
OMG! WHAT SHOULD I DO?!
Replies
2
Views
1K
eatthoseapplicationsup!!
E
Janet___
Should I apply for SEAP (Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program)?
Replies
3
Views
1K
eatthoseapplicationsup!!
E
vcnt
still in high school but i want to go to med school after uni
Replies
9
Views
918
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
A
SHOULD I GO TO MED SCHOOL
Replies
4
Views
1K
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
L
Should I include that I plan to be a doctor in my personal essay?
Replies
2
Views
1K
jhmmd
jhmmd
Top