When a group from Hong Kong came to visit Sendai when I was in high school, I had issues with their names. For example, a perfectly Asian-looking guy came up to me and said "Hi, I'm Elton!". His friend told me "I'm George!" No, you're not, I thought to myself. For the same reason that I can never pass as a Yuriko or Haruka, it just doesn't work for them to be Eltons, Georges, Harrys, or Bobs. By naming themselves odd American names, they are only trying to help us ignorant Americans who can't and don't ever really try to learn and pronounce their original names (Usually something like Shihan, Zhou Li, Xin, Qian, Zhihua). As someone who has had their name slaughtered in unimaginable ways, I understand and empathize with them. (Jori can be read "Yori", "Hori", "Jury", Jew-ry", and some assume I misspelled the first letter and call me "Lori"). And now, after further contact with Chinese people, I am wondering if it might be better for them to stick with the Eltons, Bobs, and Georges. For example...
I was talking to Li Hao, one of our friends who just had a baby. They named him David. I asked her if they had a Chinese name for him as well. She told me "No, his real name is David, but we might call him Ding or Doo-Doo as a nickname at home." My poker face failed me entirely. We have other friends that also just had a baby, and his English name is "Andrew", but they call him "Tuantuan", which apparently means "Round one". He is a chunk of a kid, but come on... By these standards, Dan and I will have to find out how you say "Zitface" or "Chicken legs" in Chinese so that we (our kids, actually) can fit in if we end up in China. I can just see it now--introducing the kids at church..."Hi, we are the Shardas, I'm Dan, this is my wife Jaoreeei, and our three kids, Zitsabound, Nerdboy, and Beanpole." I don't know about you--maybe I am losing something in the translation here, but Elton, Bob, and George are actually sounding a little better, now that the alternatives are out there.