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I'm from Europe but lived in Singapore for 10 years and worked with people from all over. There were a lot of names that surprised me, like the occasional man

I'm from Europe but lived in Singapore for 10 years and worked with people from all over. There were a lot of names that surprised me, like the occasional man with a female name. One was named Wendy, the other one I forgot. I think he was from the Philippines, or maybe Malaysia. Many Asian languages don't have male/female names, so when the parents want to pick a western name for their newborn they don't always consider the gender (maybe that has changed nowadays). Another thing I had not come across before is fake western names. The parents want to give the kid a name that sounds western but don't want to limit themselves to the standard catalogue of names, so instead they pick two names and combine them, or one name and rearrange the letters. So you get folks named Danold, Stevid and so on.

dehrmann 3y ago
Guessing these weren't native Singaporeans (where English is an official language and British influence is still obvious)? There are also names like Leslie and Ashley that are more associated with women in the US, but have historically been gender-neutral.
- mynameisamis 3y ago
  > Guessing these weren't native Singaporeans (where English is an official language and British influence is still obvious)? Most of them were probably from other countries, but I know of at least one Singaporean lady with a fake western name. In her case the parents had arranged the syllables of her Chinese name into a European-sounding combination (quite clever IMHO and more authentic than a name from the "catalogue").
OfSanguineFire 3y ago
Someething similar to your “fake western names” has been a feature of Brazilian culture going at least back to the early 20th-century. A segment of Brazilians will give a child a name ending in “-son”,[0] even if it is invented out of whole cloth, just because an English sounding name sounds prestigious. A quick online search shows people disparaging this as a practice of the lower classes, but over the decades as some families have grown wealthier, this is widely found among the middle class, too. [0] https://portuguese.stackexchange.com/questions/8634/what-is-the-meaning-of-son-in-male-brazilian-first-names https://portuguese.stackexchange.com/questions/8634/what-is-...
kortex 3y ago
> so instead they pick two names and combine them, or one name and rearrange the letters. So you get folks named Danold, Stevid and so on This is also a great tip for generating names in fantasy or sci-fi settings.

dehrmann 3y ago

Guessing these weren't native Singaporeans (where English is an official language and British influence is still obvious)? There are also names like Leslie and Ashley that are more associated with women in the US, but have historically been gender-neutral.

mynameisamis 3y ago
> Guessing these weren't native Singaporeans (where English is an official language and British influence is still obvious)? Most of them were probably from other countries, but I know of at least one Singaporean lady with a fake western name. In her case the parents had arranged the syllables of her Chinese name into a European-sounding combination (quite clever IMHO and more authentic than a name from the "catalogue").

OfSanguineFire 3y ago

Someething similar to your “fake western names” has been a feature of Brazilian culture going at least back to the early 20th-century. A segment of Brazilians will give a child a name ending in “-son”,[0] even if it is invented out of whole cloth, just because an English sounding name sounds prestigious. A quick online search shows people disparaging this as a practice of the lower classes, but over the decades as some families have grown wealthier, this is widely found among the middle class, too. [0] https://portuguese.stackexchange.com/questions/8634/what-is-the-meaning-of-son-in-male-brazilian-first-names https://portuguese.stackexchange.com/questions/8634/what-is-...

kortex 3y ago

> so instead they pick two names and combine them, or one name and rearrange the letters. So you get folks named Danold, Stevid and so on This is also a great tip for generating names in fantasy or sci-fi settings.