#2 Giving their children popular names from the 50's

While pertaining only to a small subset of the overall Chinese population, this phenomenon still warrants discussion. More specifically, this primarily affects Chinese adults born in Hong Kong in the 1950's who later had children in the late 70's and throughout the 1980's. This is not to be confused with the separate topics of naming your child after inanimate objects and using the phonetic pronunciation of their Chinese name as their English name (both to be discussed in later posts).

The time period in which they were born is particularly important because it sheds light on their level of exposure to western culture and the subsequent influence it had. The main sources of western entertainment often came from movies and musical acts from the 50's and 60's. As tweens and teenagers, Chinese people would come to idolize these celebrities and honour them in 25-30 years time by giving their children the same names.

By the late 70's and early 80's, children born of Chinese parents would be given names from two decades prior. For boys, cool names such as Terrence, Raymond, Lawrence, Philip, Kenneth and Patrick were all the rage. For girls, they were lucky enough to be given names such as Cynthia, Connie, Joyce, Janice, and Linda.

While Chinese parents felt good about their decisions, these Chinese children would come to wonder why they had such 'unique' names while their white counterparts would have more contemporary names like Ryan, Mike, Sarah and Jennifer.

For Chinese children in this situation, know that you are not alone and that many others share your plight. The best thing to do when you meet a fellow yellow with a name from the same decade, say, "Hey, that's a cool name!". You'll be best friends forever.

For non-Chinese, this knowledge can benefit you twofold. Firstly, you can make a new Chinese friend by appropriately shortening their name (e.g. Kenneth to Ken), as it shows you understand their pain. Secondly, should you find yourself in a social situation trying to determine a Chinese person's age (for pick-up/dating purposes or general reference), their name should be a good indicator. This is especially useful given that most (if not all) Chinese have a perpetually youthful appearance. This technique has been proven to work 8 out of 10 times (research ongoing).

Finally, there is a way for everyone to help stop this injustice for good. Know a Chinese couple that's going to have a child soon? Buy them a contemporary baby names book. If it's a mixed couple, don't worry, it's under control.