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My Name is Where I am From
My Name is Where I am From
By Wenshan Wang
Lucy, Cherry, Chloe, and Winslet are names that I used before, but those are not me. I was named after a poem. My name is where I am from.
Since I started studying English, each time I had a new English teacher, they asked me if I had an English name. They would give me an English name when I said no, so I have those names above. When I first came to the U.S. for school, I agonized for a long time about whether or not to get an English name. My concern arose when professors couldn't pronounce my name easily in class or when my name was called in class, which was different from other students. I worried about being marginalized. But then I thought, since most people can pronounce my name, I'll use the name I was given originally.
My name is Wang Wenshan (王文珊 wáng wén shān). Chinese people read the last name first and then the first name. Wang is my last name from my father, and Wenshan is my first name. My name was changed once from Wenshan(文山) to Wenshan(文珊), the same pronunciation but different characters. When I was three years old, my parents decided to change "Shan(山)" to "Shan(珊)" because when I went to kindergarten, people said "Shan(山)," which means mountains, is too masculine. My parents then picked a feminine name for me. "Shan (珊)" is ranked 33rd on the NameChef China Hot Names List for popular girls' names ("珊珊"). Shan(珊) means "coral" ("Wenshan"), and many parents choose this character for their daughters’ name because it means precious and good-looking, like coral.
The character "Wen(文)" - which means literature, culture, and writing - is a lineage that has been established in the genealogy of my family ("Meaning, Origin and History"). To carry on the family genealogy, "Wen" would traditionally be my father's son's name. I have no other siblings, so even though I am a girl, I have the generation character "Wen(文)." My father said my name came from a poem. The first half of the verse contains the characters" Wen(文) "and "Shan(山)". In that verse, the word "Wen(文)" refers to articles, and "Shan(山)" refers to mountains. The poem’s first line means that writings are like mountain peaks, preferring ups and downs and avoiding flatness. Its second line makes the first line’s meaning more explicit, "painting is like making friends, choosing lightness and simplicity" ("文似看山"). The two lines together show that my poetic name is a wish for me to study well and make good friends. Despite the character change, I'm grateful my parents added poetic meaning to my name. I prefer the old version, with simpler characters and more poetic romance. I think Wenshan(文山) suits me better. Shan(山) has majesty and vastness to it, is firm and reliable, and has many significant derivations, while Shan(珊) would just be a popular name for girls.
Works Cited
“Meaning, Origin and History of the Name Wen.” Behind the Name, www.behindthename.com/name/wen. Accessed 21 Sept. 2023.
“珊珊.” NameChef, www.namechef.co/zh/chinese-name/details/%E7%8F%8A%E7%8F%8A/. Accessed 18 Sept. 2023.
“Wenshan.” Behind the Name - the Etymology and History of First Names, www.behindthename.com/name/wenshan/submitted. Accessed 21 Sept. 2023.
“文似看山不喜平.” Baidu, https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%96%87%E4%BC%BC%E7%9C%8B%E5%B1%B1%E4%B8%8D%E5%96%9C%E5%B9%B3/4254009. Accessed 18 Sept. 2023.
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