陈兴益：MY CHINESE NAME Eric Chen

Growing up Asian American was hard in some ways because it felt like I didn't completely fit in with my Chinese side or my American side. And unlike a lot of the Chinese American kids I grew up around, my parents never really spoke Chinese with us at home, so me and my brother didn't have Chinese names when we were young.

The story of my Chinese name represents the role that the language barrier has played in different stages of my life, including challenges with my identity, communicating with my relatives, and reconnection with my heritage. Now after getting to know my heritage language better, I've come to terms with how my Chinese name is pretty much just a homonym for "Chen #1" and I think it's pretty funny.

奶奶（Grandma）： “Ei-ru-yi-ke?Eh-li-ke?Ma-ke-suhandEh-ri-ke.” Eric? Eric? Max and Eric

叔叔（Uncle）： “他们有中⽂名字吗？” Do they have Chinese names?

Dad： “啊，有点难说哈哈哈。 ”

Ah, their English names are a little hard to pronounce haha

[Pointingatmyolderbrother]“那你们可以叫他们。。。陈兴⼀ 。。。 ” Then call them Chen Xing 1

[Pattingmyhead]“和陈兴⼆!” And Chen Xing 2!

Everyone： “哈哈哈” Laughter

Mom： “好吧好吧，那我们给他们说。 ” Ok,ok,thenwe’regoingtotellthemnow

“Max,Eric 爷爷奶奶 (grandpa,grandma)，叔叔阿姨 (uncle,andauntie)can't speakEnglishtoowellsotheycan’tsayyourEnglishnames Theywillcallyou 陈兴⼀ (ChenXing1)and 陈兴⼆ (ChenXing2)， OK？”

Eric: [Annoyed]“Iknowmom,Icanunderstandthatmuch!”

奶奶（Grandma）： “哎呀哈哈哈，真的是宝宝乖呀。 ” Aiyah haha, he really is our cute little grandson.

爷爷（Grandpa）： “太好笑了哈哈。 ” Too funny haha.

婶婶: “啊他们可以讲中⽂吗？懂不懂？” Can they speak Chinese at all? Do they understand any?

Dad： “他们不懂，什么就可以说” They don’t speak, you can say anything

Eric： “Hey!Wecanunderstand,rightMax?Right?”

Max： [Stickshistongueout,pointsandlaughsatme]

[SEVERAL YEARS LATER AT HOME, DINNER]

Mom: “So，我的⼩宝宝 (my baby boy)，how was school?”

Eric: “It was ok…”

“I think I need a Chinese name though”

Dad: “For your Chinese class? Can you just go by your English name?”

Eric: “We were introducing ourselves today and everyone already has Chinese names. Even the white kids do because it's Chinese 2 and they all took Chinese already. The closest thing I have is when I was in China and everyone called me 陈兴⼆ (Chen Xing 2) so 冯⽼师 (teacher) told me to ask you”

Mom: “How about ？It’s a very powerful -. ”

Dad: “啊呀 (Aiyah)，that doesn’t make any sense it doesn't even have his middle name in it, what about ？” [minutes of bickering]

Dad: “因为 Eric 的表亲叫兴悦和兴愿，⽽且 Max ⽤的名字就是兴宇， 我们应该要选⼀个相似的名字对不对？⽐如陈兴益？”

Eric's cousins' names are Xingyue and Xingyuan and when Max was taking Chinese he used the name Xingyu, so doesn’t it make more sense that we make his name similar? Like Chen Xingyi?

Mom: “那你说的是什么‘益’哪？” Then which “yi” character?

Dad： “利益的益。 ” “Yi” as in “benefit.”

Mom： “OK。Eric what do you think about 陈兴益 (Chen Xingyi)？It means ”

[SENIOR YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL, HOTPOT RESTAURANT]

Selena: “Oh yeah that was Emily’s Chinese name, right Erin? Wow your parents gave you two such cute Chinese names!”

Zoe: “I know right? 张苗苗 (Zhang Miaomiao) is such a cute name!”

冯⽼师 (teacher): “对啊，Zoe，your sister’s name was… 柳虹影是的？ 有 Eric -- 哦，我忘记了，你哥哥 的中⽂名字是什呀？” Ah, Zoe, your sister was Liu Hongying right? And Eric -- Oh I forgot, can you remind me what your older brother’s Chinese name was?

Eric: “I think it was 陈兴⽉ (Chen Xingyue)？Wait no I think it was 陈兴宇 (Chen Xingyu), we didn’t really use them at home.”

Selena: “Oh that’s very similar. Was there, like, any reason for that?”

Eric： “Actually, yeah, so there's a funny story behind it…”