In the second season episode 20 of the show Fresh off the Boat, the protagonist Even struggles to decide if he is going to use his Chinese name or English name as the signature on the bank account paperwork. Even found out that the name that his parents gave him is a random nearby nurse’s name. He is wondering that if he should keep using the random American nurse’s name, which makes everything easy for him but it is not actually his name or should use his given Chinese name that may cause endless struggles to him.
When he goes to the restroom to decide what name he going to use, he sees his grandma. His grandma said “Your name doesn’t make you. You make your name.” The point that Even’s grandma makes here is the name does not give value to him. Rather, she is encouraging Even to give value to his name by doing well and doing big. For instance, Nobel Prize is named after Alfred Nobel. It is not the name “Alfred Nobel” defined him as a successful inventor, but it is himself and his works give remarkable value to his name.
From this episode, I remember when I first came to America, I had a hard time to choose to sign my English name or Chinese name. Since in America, there is hardly anyone call me in my Chinese name. Even my mom only calls me in my Chinese name when she gets mad. Also, even when I am with my Chinese friends, we barely know each other’s Chinese name. We are more comfortable with the English names which is the nickname to call each other.
Image link
http://www.chemistryviews.org/details/news/10639511/Whos_Next_Nobel_Prize_in_Chemistry_2017__Voting_Results_22_September.html
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chine_informations.chinesename