取英文名这个现象最显而易见的解释是可以让中国人在跨文化交流中更如鱼得水。但这个判断并不完全正确,它没有解释为什么其他正在全球化进程中的国家没有参与到这种现象里来。比方说,为什么日本人和韩国人没有大规模地取英文名?还有一种对这个问题的解释是,对英文名的热情显示了对西方的崇拜。
Angelababy
However, in my opinion, what both of these interpretations ignore is China’s own rich naming tradition. After all, when Chinese people take English names, they do not give up their birth names; the new name becomes merely an additional moniker. In fact, the adoption of a series of names and nicknames is a long-held custom in the country.
但我觉得,上面这两种解释都忽略了一点,那就是中国自己的丰富的取名文化。毕竟中国人取英文名的时候,并没有抛弃他们自己的名字,新的英文名只是作为一个补充名存在。事实上,这种取几个名字或者绰号的行为一直存在于中国的传统文化里。
Until the mid-1900s in China, a person would normally inherit their father’s xing, or surname, at birth. Later, at 100 days old, the baby would be given a ming, a personal name chosen by the parents. At the beginning of adulthood — usually age 20 for men and age 15 for women — the individual would be granted an alternative personal name, or a zi. In the Confucian society of ancient Chi