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- That's a misunderstanding by those unfamiliar with asian culture. there is a vietnamese dude I know who does the same thing. In your wife's case, ""Sin Ho"" is the formal form of her first name. either the first or the second character, can be used as a pet name by the family, so those unfamiliar with their culture take it as a ""main"" first name. The family may also use some variations of this as a petname, like ""Sin Sin"", ""Ah Sin"", ""Siu Sin"", or otherwise ""Ah Ho"" etc. there are asians who consciously decide to use it as their main name, kinda akin to someone named William tells you to call them Bill, but in most circumstances, if you don't know that person well, it's considered disrespectful.  "