A Girl Named Sue

[Jeff Root]

A young Chinese woman's first name is "Sue". I suspect that that is
an Anglicization of a Chinese name. From her appearance I'm making a
very wild guess that she is from the middle part of the country rather
than either the extreme north or extreme south. Any idea what the
name might be in her original language?

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis

[Neverfly]

Tzu?

[Ronald Brak]

Shu? It kind of depends on what romanji you want to use to represent it. Sue is close enough for an English speaker. Just remember to call Beijing Beijing and not Peking and that will make up for not getting the sound exactly right.

[Jens]

A young Chinese woman's first name is "Sue". I suspect that that is
an Anglicization of a Chinese name. From her appearance I'm making a
very wild guess that she is from the middle part of the country rather
than either the extreme north or extreme south. Any idea what the
name might be in her original language?

Unfortunately:

First, I don't see how you could judge from her appearance that she is from central China. People from Beijing and Shanghai and say Guanzhou don't look very different to me. So I assume she could be a speaker of any of a range of "dialects".

And secondly, the question itself is probably impossible to answer. There are a number of sounds that could sound like Sue, including Shu but also Si, which can sound like "su" in English. And in addition, many Chinese have "first names" that are two characters, so her name could even be something like say Bao Sizhu or Bao Shuli, with just the first character transliterated.

And then thirdly, don't think there is any strict rule that a Chinese person will have a Western first name that resembles the Chinese name. The actor Jackie Chan's Chinese name is Chan Kong Sang, and the sound Kongsang doesn't sound like Jackie at all. People might adopt a Western name based on somebody they like, for example.

It's probably best to ask.

[Whirlpool]

Chinese people uses two names . One for their Chinese name and the other is for the English Name.

I have asked my chinese friend just now and she said Sue is an English Name which is short for Susan.

They chose their English name by themselves for their foreign interactions.

My Chinese Friends name is Danxiao , and her English name is Bessie.
She personally chose it .

[Neverfly]

ohhh really?
Can I choose a Chinese name then?

[Jens]

ohhh really?
Can I choose a Chinese name then?

Sure. Why not?

Chinese people uses two names . One for their Chinese name and the other is for the English Name.

Most Chinese people don't. Chinese people who live abroad or have foreign dealings often do, because it's hard for non-Chinese to remember Chinese names. Some Westerners who live in China also take Chinese names, for the same reason.

[Tobin Dax]

Jens and Whirlpool have it. Only a few of my Chinese friends and acquaintances actually have an English name that is similar to their Chinese name.

To back Jens' second point, my friend Shiya just anglicized her name, but the tonal for the "i" is something that I (and most westerners) have a hard time pronouncing. So, if Sue is anglicized, it could still be one of a few possible characters.

Neverfly, I've had that thought before, but I came out of the conversation feeling like it could be difficult. My statement that I wanted my Mandarin name to be the "Scot" part of "Scotland" didn't go anywhere. I also think that I don't fully grasp the naming rules well enough to pick one.

[Neverfly]

Neverfly, I've had that thought before, but I came out of the conversation feeling like it could be difficult. My statement that I wanted my Mandarin name to be the "Scot" part of "Scotland" didn't go anywhere. I also think that I don't fully grasp the naming rules well enough to pick one.

Oh... Good point.
ok.
I'll go with the Klingon name then...

[Whirlpool]

Jens and Whirlpool have it. Only a few of my Chinese friends and acquaintances actually have an English name that is similar to their Chinese name.

Well , I don't have a Chinese name yet . Jean is my real name .

[Whirlpool]

I'll go with the Klingon name then...

Well.. you can use This Klingon Character Name Generator

to get your Klingon name.

[Neverfly]

Well.. you can use This Klingon Character Name Generator

to get your Klingon name.

S'soR, House of Morath.

Ok, so it took my name, made it backwards and threw an apostrophe in it.

That's imaginitive...

[Jeff Root]

See, now, Jean and Ross, I accomplished my purpose -- My diabolical plan
worked perfectly.

I now know what to ask Sue when the opportunity arises.

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis

[HenrikOlsen]

And then thirdly, don't think there is any strict rule that a Chinese person will have a Western first name that resembles the Chinese name. The actor Jackie Chan's Chinese name is Chan Kong Sang, and the sound Kongsang doesn't sound like Jackie at all.

No, but Chan Kong does.

[Neverfly]

See, now, Jean and Ross, I accomplished my purpose -- My diabolical plan
worked perfectly.

I now know what to ask Sue when the opportunity arises.

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis

HUH

[Jens]

HUH

I may be totally wrong but... Jeff has met a nice Chinese girl, and wanted to impress her by knowing her Chinese name. But now that we've told him about the complications, he's got an excuse to strike up a conversation about how people are named in China, etc. Hardly diabolical, though. I think that was probably just being funny.

But again, this is just my imagination.

[Whirlpool]

See, now, Jean and Ross, I accomplished my purpose -- My diabolical plan
worked perfectly.

I now know what to ask Sue when the opportunity arises.

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis

See now, Jeff, If you want to ask Sue for a date you don't have to know the Origin of her name to impress her , you can just ask her out.....

If my assumption is right .

[Tog]

I took his "diabolical plan" to be the way he deftly tricked two baut members into revealing their real first names.

Last summer we had a Chinese tour bus line that stopped here once or twice a week. One of the "tourist herders" was a man that said his name as "Siu" He sort of pronounced it Seeyou, with more time on the S than the whole rest of the name. To the woman that worked days, he became simple "Sue".

[Whirlpool]

I took his "diabolical plan" to be the way he deftly tricked two baut members into revealing their real first names.

What is "Diabolical" in knowing our Real name?

[Tog]

Some people are very "privacy aware" and don't like to give away anything about themselves in a public forum.

I suspect that his use of "diabolical" was a joke playing on this idea.

[Neverfly]

I took his "diabolical plan" to be the way he deftly tricked two baut members into revealing their real first names.

Eh, I've revealed it before.

[Jeff Root]

Tog got it. While I was posting, I realized that "Ross" sounded familiar, and
Neverfly had posted it before -- probably not long ago. So I deftly changed
my diabolical plan...

Actually, no chance of asking her out. Age difference, and I know absolutely
nothing about her. It's just that I accidentally learned her first name, while
she doesn't know mine yet, so I was wondering about how to fix that.

So I'm a dork, eh?

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis

[Tog]

So I'm a dork, eh?

If that's a reference to my sig, you may well be. I pretty much represent all three.

[Neverfly]

Tog got it. While I was posting, I realized that "Ross" sounded familiar, and
Neverfly had posted it before -- probably not long ago.

Actually, I think someone else did first. That member is now banned but...
I think I recall saying it myself after since what's done is done.
Although those that were unfortunate enough to have suffered my presence at the Iron Cactus had learned my name.

[Whirlpool]

Actually, no chance of asking her out. Age difference, and I know absolutely
nothing about her. It's just that I accidentally learned her first name, while
she doesn't know mine yet, so I was wondering about how to fix that.

So I'm a dork, eh?

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis

Hmmm.. I see...

[Jens]

Actually, no chance of asking her out. Age difference, and I know absolutely
nothing about her. It's just that I accidentally learned her first name, while
she doesn't know mine yet, so I was wondering about how to fix that.

So I'm a dork, eh?

Maybe. "I know nothing about her" sounds funny. How can you know anything about anybody without asking?

I don't know about the age difference, but how about. "Hi, I'm Jeff. I saw your name on the . . . What does it mean?"

[Nick Theodorakis]

Most of the Chinese people I know in this country (N.B.: a non-random population -- most are in science) are from one of the "big cities," usually Shanghai or Beijing (if I know their origin at all). Many stick with their Chinese names (I notice this more among the younger generation), or else their English names don't resemble their Chinese ones.

As to how they look: one my former colleagues (retired now) was born and raised in Shanghai. When we went out for Chinese food, a couple of times the waitstaff would be surprised to hear him speak Mandarin , because they thought he was Korean! It became a running in-joke for us.

Nick

[Whirlpool]

Korean and Chinese have resemblance in their physical features.

[Frog march]

This is my Chinese name

[ToSeek]

S'soR, House of Morath.

Ok, so it took my name, made it backwards and threw an apostrophe in it.

That's imaginitive...

You get a different name each time you hit the button. Just keep trying until you get one you like.