Comments on: An Open Letter to Korean American Parents About Naming Their Child

By: tay

tay — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 13:47:11 +0000

…uh, i dont know any chinese americans that name their child ‘harvard yale or stanford’….if any segment of the population chooses those names, i’d guess it was either WASP-y types or ghetto americans (the ones that name their kids the names of cars- mercedes, porsha, etc)

it is extremely confusing that there are essentially only three korean family names. what is the history of this??

By: jstele

jstele — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 23:36:15 +0000

“Many Korean Americans pick names like Harvard, Yale or Stanford in the hope that this will actually increase their kids’ chances of getting into those prestigious schools when they grow up.”

Korean Americans? You mean Chinese Americans. I have never heard of any KA’s name their child “Harvard, Yale, or Stanford”. You’re confused.

By: Tavimotta

Tavimotta — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 18:54:40 +0000

I always had problems with this, because I knew enough Johns, James, Steves, Peters, Brians, Graces, Susans whom are Kims, Lees, and Parks. Hack, they’re my cousins and buddies. So I named my kids something different and non-common, but not wacky in Korean American names.

By: DJ

DJ — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 18:12:45 +0000

Grace. Come to think of it, that name is really common. My cousin’s Korean name is Grace for Korean, but her English name is Stephany. Also, her little sister’s English name is Grace, while her Korean name is not (obviously). Moreover, my church friend’s English name is Grace and her mom’s English name is Grace too! So people used to call them Grace and little Grace. We just can’t let go of that name, can we? If I were to name my kid John, I would spell his name YoHan, not John.

Now, Jae. Please enlighten me how Philip’s post conveys racism. I’ve seen Philip at worst, and I don’t see it with this particular post.

By: Jae

Jae — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 17:43:01 +0000

Wow. Racism at it’s best. I don’t care if you are in fact Asian. Blogs like these give Asians and non Asians alike to continue to bash our race in this country. There was a time when Caucasians came to this country and had everything changed for them because ppl couldn’t pronounce their names. Johansson turned to Johnson. Schmidt turned into smith. So do me a favor and keep your attempts at comedic blogging to yourself. Thanks

By: caramelfrap

caramelfrap — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 15:37:47 +0000

Brilliantness opinion

By: Grace Jung

Grace Jung — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 15:20:49 +0000

This is hilarious.

By: Linus

Linus — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 15:20:21 +0000

My Parents didnt speak engrish very well that i think they gave the job of naming me to a mischievous priest. he picked it out of a book… “and from henceforth he will be called Linus.” absolute fucking misery for an asian kid trying hard not to stand out in post civil rights era Alabama..
i think i heard the last original Linus/peanuts joke at age 5.
im fine with it now.. in fact, being a Linus helps me socially..and in several cases, professionally…. but i consider it analogous to collecting a pension for doing hard time.

Linus Kim

By: London Rakehell (@London_Rakehell)

London Rakehell (@London_Rakehell) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 08:25:36 +0000

Not as bad amongst the British-Filipino community, but it does get concerning when the parents pick such common names.

I’ve been attempting to persuade a couple of friends to name their child Raiden, a nice Oriental name. Better than having the child mistaken (in print) for a Spanish guy.