> I also don’t understand the author’s lack of love to just using the straight phonetic translation (either first-last or only first/last name) Yes, this is es

> I also don’t understand the author’s lack of love to just using the straight phonetic translation (either first-last or only first/last name) Yes, this is especially strange given that the Chinese script evolution was mainly phonetically driven. Most characters cames from writing a word with a same sounding word then disambiguate it by adding a determinative (radical). Even in the PRC simplification scheme, one of the key method was to replace an existing character by one that is read the same (which overload the meaning of a single character). > Sure it’s nice to have a Chinese name that sounds familiar, but would you expect your (say) Indian immigrant colleague to adapt an English-sounding name when moving to Canada? Yeah, we don’t mind you using your native name either. In the Indian case probably not, but in my (European) country people are often glad that Chinese people have a local name, even if they find it funny. Chinese phonology can be quite hard for foreigners, and the pinyin system with consonants that are not transparent (h, j, q, x, zh, ch) and hide some vowel letters doesn't help at all when names are written down. I noticed for instance that I'm the only foreigner calling my Taiwanese girlfriend by her Chinese name or a derivative, while other people don't even ask her given name past the English one she chose for herself.