扒车喵在美版知乎Quora上，美国网友提问道：为什么许多来到美国的中国人把中文名改成了英文名，这不会让他们丧失自己的中国身份吗？这个问题引起各国网友的围观和热议，我们看看他们是怎么回答的。
问题：为什么许多来到美国的中国人把中文名改成英文？这不会让他们丧失自己的中国身份吗？
华裔网友Ricky的回答
There are several reasons:
有以下几个原因：
First of all, ethnic surnames almost always exist much longer than surnames. For example, Chen and Hu were one ancestor and later differentiated. Surnames are handed down from ancestors, reflecting the origin of an ethnic group’s ancestors.
首先，种族姓氏几乎总是比姓氏存在的时间长得多，比如陈和胡是一个祖先，后来才分化开来。姓氏是祖辈流传下来的，反映了一个族群祖先的渊源，既然移民了，他们就不太看重这个了。
On the other hand, it makes sense that the source of names will slowly transfer from the parents’ home country to the country where immigrants settle down.
另一方面，名字的来源会慢慢地从父母的母国转移到移民定居的国家，这是有一定道理的。
But I think you mean new immigrants from China. As a person who has spent quite a long time in China and around Chinese Americans, I can tell you that many young Chinese who are not Americans and do not intend to become Americans are still happy to use their American names. When talking to English speakers, many people prefer to use this name rather than their Chinese name. Why?
不过，我想你指的是来自中国的新移民。作为一个在中国和美籍华人周围度过了相当长时间的人，我可以告诉你，许多不是美国人、也不打算成为美国人的中国年轻人仍然很乐于使用他们的美国名字。当与说英语的人交谈时，许多人更喜欢使用这个名字而不是他们的中文名字，这是为什么？
1. More and more Chinese students are learning English in school. When learning a foreign language, the common practice is to use the foreign language to take a name. Therefore, most Chinese students today have a ready-made English name that they can use at any time.
1.越来越多的中国学生在学校学习英语。学习一门外语时，通常的做法是用该门外语取一个名字，因此，今天大多数中国学生都有一个现成的英文名字，他们可以随时使用。
2. Pressure to comply with Western standards. English is considered by many people to be a cool language in the world. Of course, it will be regarded by many people as a cool part of American culture. This is not just for adaptation – American names also show recognition of American culture and avoid the embarrassment of many Americans when speaking Chinese.
2.遵守西方标准的压力。英语被视为全球通用的商业语言，许多中国人认为使用英文名字会让他们更成功，美国文化也被广泛认为是很酷的一种文化——美国名字当然是其中的一部分。这不仅仅是为了适应——美国名字还表明了对美国文化的认同，以及避免许多美国人发汉语音时的尴尬。
3. The English translation of Chinese names is not perfect. Chinese is a tonal language. A single syllable can have four different sounds and dozens of unique meanings.
3.中文姓名的英文翻译不完善。汉语是有声调的语言，单个音节可以有四种不同的发音和几十种独特的意义。
Each is represented by a different character. A Chinese can almost guess, but not completely. For example, the writing and pronunciation of a Chinese name, Luo Jia, can correspond to many Chinese characters based on its English counterpart Luo Jia.
每一个都由不同的字符表示。一个中国人几乎可以猜出，但不能完全猜出，比如一个中文名字的书写和发音，罗佳, 基于它的英文对应词Luo jia，它的发音可以对应许多汉字。
In addition, the meaning of most Chinese names is rooted in the way they are written. This name has both visual and auditory components, which is not conducive to romanization at all.
此外，大多数中文名字的含义都植根于它们的书写方式，这个名字既有视觉成分，也有听觉成分，根本不利于罗马字符化。
4. Most Chinese names are unique, and each name is designed separately. Unlike Europeans and Americans, naming children after their parents or grandparents is also considered to be out of line with the norms of orderly growth and childhood.
4.大多数中文名字都是独一无二的，每个名字都是单独设计的。和欧美人士不同，用父母或祖父母的名字给孩子起名也被认为是不符合长幼有序的规范的。
This may mean that when it feels more appropriate to use an American name in the American cultural atmosphere, the attachment to a Chinese name is less urgent.
这可能意味着，当在美国那种文化氛围下，使用一个美国名字感觉更合适时，对一个中国名字的依恋就没有那么迫切了。
5. Even in casual conversation, Chinese people often use first name and last name. Separating first name from last name and only addressing last name or first name may make people feel artificial.
5.即使在随意的交谈中，中国人也经常用名字和姓氏称呼，把名字和姓氏分开，只称呼姓或名，可能会让人觉得做作。
Most of the answers mentioned the names of the first generation of Chinese immigrants. As Anthony mentioned, it is common for Chinese American parents to give their children American names and Chinese middle names, which protects the inheritance of the two cultures and is in line with their Chinese identity.
大部分答案都提到了第一代中国移民的名字，正如安东尼提到的，华裔美国父母给孩子起美国名字和中文中间名是很常见的，这保护了两种文化的传承，很符合他们华裔的身份。
海外网友Khang的回答
In short, anyone who speaks English can easily pronounce “Masako Yamaguchi”, but it will be very embarrassing for most English speakers not to pronounce “Zhang Xuejin”. These two names are quite representative in the respective cultures of China and Japan.
简单地说，任何说英语的人都能毫不费力地念出“山口真子”，但大多数说英语的人念不出“张学津”，就会令人感到非常尴尬。这两个名字在中日两国各自的文化中都有相当的代表性。
For the Chinese, this is mainly for convenience.
对中国人来说，这主要是为了方便。
I went to school in the Midwest of the United States. When I went in, I asked my classmates if I should use an English name. Most people said no, as long as I felt comfortable, so I didn’t have one.
我在美国中西部上学，当我进去的时候，我问我的同学我是否应该用一个英文名字，大多数人都说不，只要我觉得舒服就行，所以我没有起一个。
Then two things happened, which changed my mind.
后来发生了两件事，这改变了我的想法。
One of my classmates, a typical midwestern, never spoke to me. While we were waiting for the elevator, we were silent for some time. In order to break the silence, he wanted to say something, but obviously he didn’t know how to say my name. What was the result? Hey, do you have an English name? We laughed.
我的一个同学，典型的中西部人，从来不和我说话。我们等电梯的时候，我们沉默了一段时间，为了打破沉默，他想说些什么，但显然他不知道怎么说我的名字，结果怎么样？嘿，你有英文名字吗？我们大笑了起来。
Then I had a summer internship. I first met my team members, six people from a local manufacturer, and I later realized that they were all big people.
然后我进行了暑期实习。我第一次见到我的团队成员，来自当地一家制造厂的六个人，我后来才意识到他们都是大人物。
At the moment we met, I introduced myself, my name and so on. I immediately noticed that they were confused about my name. They always couldn’t say what they said.
我们见面的那一刻，我介绍了我自己、我的名字等等，我立刻注意到他们对我的名字感到疑惑，他们话到口边总是说不出来。
So I quickly decided to use an English name, which makes it easier for them and me to communicate.
所以我很快就决定采用一个英文名字，这样对他们和我来说都更容易进入交流。
Then I told the news to my classmates. A good friend of mine was very angry. She said why did you do this? I say it because people can’t say my name. She said, why, what’s the difficulty? I just looked at my shoes and thought of “harmonic goose” (my name).
然后我把这个消息告诉了我的同学，我的一个好朋友非常生气，她说你为什么这么做？我说是因为人们说不出我的名字。她说，为什么，这有什么难的，我只是看着我的鞋子，想着“谐雁”（我的名字）。
I didn’t tell my friends, but my name shouldn’t be pronounced like this. I really don’t want my name to be associated with shoes.
我没有和我的朋友说，但我的名字不应该这样发音，我真的不想让我的名字再和鞋子联系在一起。
Why can’t other Asians? Simply put, their names can be written naturally in Latin letters, just like your spelling, but they don’t sound exactly the same in their own language, but they sound very close.
为什么其他亚洲人不行呢？简单地说，他们的名字可以自然地用拉丁字母写出来的，就像你发音的拼写一样，但是他们用自己的语言发音的方式并不完全一样，但听起来两者很接近。
Some people mention Thai or Indian names. Yes, they may be very long, but usually you will see that they are easier to remember if they only take the first few syllables.
有些人提到了泰国名字或印度名字，是的，它们可能很长，但通常你会看到，如果它们只取前几个音节，那么更容易记忆。
美国网友sam的回答
Japanese names are easier to pronounce than Chinese names.
日本人的名字比中国人的名字更容易发音。
Typical Chinese names: Li Xuehua, Liu Penghui, Wang Qing and Zhuang kunqin. You don’t know the pronunciation of X, q or zh. Syllables like “Hui” and “Tiao” have no meaning at all. How should I pronounce them
典型的中文名字：李学华、刘鹏辉、王青和庄昆琴。（你不知道X、Q或Zh的发音，像“慧”和“条”这样的音节根本没有意义。我该怎么发音？）
Typical Japanese names: Kikuko Yamaguchi, Shinzo Abe and Haruki Murakami, which is very simple! I can say all these syllables without difficulty and hesitation.
典型的日本名字：山口菊子、安倍晋三和村上春树，这就很简单！我可以毫不费力、毫不犹豫地说出所有这些音节。
Japanese has very vowels, almost every word ends with a vowel, and Japanese has no tone, which means that everyone can pronounce easily.
日语有非常元音，几乎每个单词都以元音结尾，加上日语没有声调，这意味着每个人发音都很容易。
Chinese pronunciation is full of strange combinations of strange syllables and strange tones. Pronunciation is difficult for any non Chinese user. Maybe Koreans should be excluded because their names are similar to Chinese names.
汉语的发音充满了奇怪音节和奇怪音调的奇怪组合。对于任何非汉语使用者来说，发音都很困难，也许韩国人应该被排除在外，因为他们的名字与中国人的名字相似。
That’s why we tell Foreigners our English names. It’s convenient for both sides.
这就是为什么我们告诉外国人我们的英文名字。这对双方都很方便。
After all, if I meet someone from Iceland, his name is h ú NR ö ð Ur, I would also be at a loss. If he said, “just call me Hank”, it would be much better.
毕竟，如果我遇到一个来自冰岛的人，他的名字叫Húnröður，我也会不知所措，如果他说：“就叫我汉克吧”，那就会好很多。
