S5-E12 – Names… Too Many Names!
Your name carries history, identity, and sometimes in Taiwan, salmon? In this episode, we explore Taiwanese/Chinese naming traditions: family names, generational names, courtesy names, and how colonization, politics, and even sushi promotions have shaped them. From the chaos of post-war name changes to the viral “Salmon Naming Incident” of 2021, join Formosa Files for a fascinating and funny audio journey into what our names say about us.
Cover via Wiki Commons and Metro UK.
Below: According to Wikipedia (backed by other stats), Chen is the most common family name in Taiwan, with Lin in second place.
Below: Check out this rather long list of notable people surnamed Chen, which is pronounced Chan in Cantonese, and Chin in Hakka.
READ: TAIWAN TODAY: LY approves amendments to allow exclusive use of Indigenous names
"Amendments to the Name Act were passed by the Legislative Yuan May 14, allowing Indigenous people to use ethnic names in their own language without Chinese names, according to the Ministry of the Interior. The amendments lifted current legal requirements that stipulate an Indigenous person’s name should be registered in Chinese characters only, or together with a Romanized form of their Indigenous name, the MOI said. Legally, any person can change name up to three times, but now changing names due to Indigenous heritage will not be counted as one of the permitted number of changes."
WATCH:
Salmon Chaos 鮭魚之亂 | #Taiwan, Mar. 25, 2021 | Taiwan Insider on RTI
Read what the international press had to say about the fishy name changes:
1. Taiwan is having to urge people not to change name to ‘salmon’ for free sushi
2. People Change Their Name to “Salmon” for Free Sushi, Now They Can’t Change It Back
Information on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, with a history of terms/names once used by the Japanese and the KMT.
TAIWAN IN TIME: From Lee to Iwasato back to Lee
TAIWAN IN TIME: Return my true name
Rare names: A man who once was an avid stamp collector has turned his energies toward a different kind of collectible — surnames. Over the past decade, he has collected more than 200 rare Chinese surnames from friends, relatives, coworkers and even strangers he found in a telephone directory.Some of the rare surnames Kuo has collected include Hu (虎, tiger), Yi (蟻, ant), Shui (水, water), Yun (雲, cloud), Suo (鎖, lock), Dan (但, but) and Mai (買, buy).
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