Day In The Life Of An Asian/Ethnic Name

[@leohunter6930]

"I just can't find my name on a Coca Cola bottle."

[@TheBingleichwiederda]

Leo Hunter such A problem... I cant find my name either... But mine is an old european name... Not common..

[@judithjanneck1719]

Leo Hunter I can't find my name on a bottle as well because it's unique here

[@gwendolynsheperd9011]

Leo Hunter I have a French name (I'm half french) but I live in Germany so I never find a bottle with my name...

[@coolpanda7994]

You can get a custom One.....Somewhere

[@arek8520]

Just ask the mouse haha same my name is polish (arek)

[@nickkei2838]

I do not have an English name. One day, a girl asked me what my name was. I told her, but she replied, "Just tell me your western name, I can't pronounce your name anyway". I was disappointed at her attitude that she expected all East Asians to have the 'western' name, so instead I asked her, "What's your eastern name?". My name is neither Nick nor Kei btw

[@ramirosotto]

love your answer.

[@nickkei2838]

+Watermelom The catch here is the absurdity of categorizing the names into east and west. Plus having second names is not a norm in certain countries.

[@nickkei2838]

+Flesh Oh really... Maybe Chinese society is pretty open about having different names... But just because one country in the east does so, it doesn't mean others practice the same as well.

[@mahakarzoun6213]

Nick Kei i have always thought that names are kind of a holy thing nd very especial so i always ask my friends to tell their ( real ) names not their ( modifing ones ) and i think if any one try ones or twice to spil it right it will work. but some people are just dont wanna bother their self . how annoying 😬

[@teerich2011]

I never understood the whole English name thing in school. I always wanted to know a person's birth name and made an effort to pronounce it correctly. Just common courtesy and respect to not force someone to change their identity.

[@ninjadude971]

I'm happy to find another Asian youtuber who includes Indians.

[@stevenkwlim]

ninjadude971 :)

[@cfG21]

+Steven Lim i proudly tell people my name. i don't care if they can't pronounce it. just don't tell me how to pronounce my own name. I would never want to change my name for a foreign english name.

[@gwangvatar]

she love everything about sports

[@Commander_HW]

+ninjadude971 I thought indians are indian...... cuz i remember i saw that on many forms that they list Asian, white, black, latino, idian, other. So i just assumed indian was a race.....hahahaha

[@missunderstood2274]

indeed

[@Qinniart]

Hmm, my name is pronounced "ching" and I remember people always liked to joke "haha, cha-ching!"...i never really minded it? I mean, these days, I even just tell people "it's pronounced Ching, like cha-ching!" XD~

[@tessa4121]

no

[@victoriaamaro7905]

It's so crazy I've found you here in the comments!!!! I follow you on Instagram and your draws are amazing 😍

[@Qinniart]

Victoria Amaro haha thank you

[@Lanhua.v]

Woah. I never expected to find you here that's so cool 😂

[@Qinniart]

Galaxy Dawn xD~

[@crew]

What's worst is that you give them your English name and they still fuck it up

[@kungkungx3]

lol omg yes that's so true. last week I told the server my name was eva and she spelled it avah I was like ???????? ...

[@lilimyu1040]

Your name is Eva? That's so beautiful I always liked this name :)

[@ahgase8527]

Ikr

[@sunkissism]

My name is Justine, and some teachers or Starbucks server tend to ignore the "E" and call me Justin.

[@stormmitchell851]

Same, or they don't believe it's your name. In second grade I had an argument with MY TEACHER over what my name is.

[@misterteacake]

And then you go to back to your "ethnic roots" and realise your name is common as hell

[@jide5342]

Hahaha so true

[@wlfshertz4362]

XD so true. Even tho my grandma and my name is different, it still means the same thing. Like my grandma's name is beautiful jade, and my name is precious and beautiful jade XD

[@jilln.4256]

+misterteacake So true! Especially "Nguyen". Who hasn't heard of that name before?

[@kai713]

+Ngan Tran How DO you pronounce it? I've seen names with the "Ng" in it, but I never attempted to say it for fear of offending someone.

[@schildkroete]

+kai713 you take the nasal "NG" sound at the end of words like SING, WRONG, and HANG and pronounce it at the beginning of the word (it's typically difficult for English speakers to do this because English doesn't permit this sound at the beginning of words). For the last name NG (a Cantonese surname), the actual pronunciation is just this nasal sound alone (there is no vowel sound), though most people who have this name in English-speaking countries will permit the pronunciation "ING", because the nasal is difficult for English speakers to pronounce by itself.

[@MrQwerty2524]

Who won't get 'Ying'? How is 'Ying' a hard name to either pronounce or remember? What the fuq xD

[@li_tsz_fung]

+MrQwerty2524 I remember that she said about teacher called her "Ling" in another video. Ying, Ling, Ching, Ting are really common in female Chinese name. People might remember the wrong name because they've met someone else with similar name. This also happened here, although almost all of us speak Chinese.

[@MrQwerty2524]

Jyunkai Don´t discriminate.

[@miaow.mystery]

My aunt's name is Ying too lol

[@ioncekilledamanwithmyshoe]

SgtGo but for some reason, if a name isn't familiar to like an American person they will literally guaranteed say it wrong

[@essennagerry]

SgtGo It's so weird, right? It's like... in so many countries... if you pronounce a name or a word with absolutely no different sounds than the sounds of the language - people would still confuse it with SOMETHING, because it's not familiar to them. It's like people are so frantically trying to connect what they hear with something they've already heard instead of opening up to the possibility they might be hearing something new. Everyone does it to a certain extend, but so many people go SO overboard on that. Probably why Ying experienced thaz many people saying her name wrong even though for a native English speaker it shouldn't be hard to pronounce _and_ it's short.

[@YangSunWoo]

Ying... If we get married, you'll be named 'Ying Yang'

[@autumnslatest9893]

Sorry but... more like "Yang Ying"? Then people will insist that she goes by the Western style of putting your first name first, so it can be "Ying Yang"... I see what you mean x) Awesome last name by the way!

[@NotQuiteFirst]

+YangSunWoo I know a girl called Holly and she married a guy with the family name Wood so she is Holly Wood

[@BacadoTheSkoggy]

Unless she chose to keep her own last name, jeez, she doesn't have to take your's it's the 21st century

[@YangSunWoo]

Matthias Tan Thx, you're so funny.

[@iwritecomments6864]

Matthias Tan that really doesn't mean anything for me it's tradition that when a man and woman gets married the woman takes the mans last name to carry on his family's name unto their children if she has a son/s and so on sorry if you get "offended" by this but as you say "it's the 21st century" but that's wrong it's the 20th century(btw) but you know most people would choose to take the last name...cool

[@bananacupcake15]

spurthi is such a beautiful name I love her personality it is cute

[@girlsgeneration7019]

My Thai name is Sopee. I was named that because when I shot out of my mother when I was birthed, I looked soapy. LMAO JK I was named after my aunt

[@__elephant__]

u got me omg I almost ran out my took to show my brother this. it's a cool name tho. is it pronounced as soapy?

[@kritkanin]

Kinda. It's spelled 'So(high-pitched)-pee(low-pitched)', which means 'beautiful'.

[@girlsgeneration7019]

+Elle Goh with an American accent, you'd just say it like soapy. The commenter above is correct. But I never thought it meant beautiful!! (I wasn't raised speaking thai, my family is very Americanized) I thought to say beautiful you'd say suay.

[@kritkanin]

+SNSD EXO Yep. But Sopee is a bigger word. It's like saying "you are exquisite" instead of "you're beautiful."

[@girlsgeneration7019]

+kritkanin oh wow, thank you!!!!

[@ebonhawk]

Seung Bum, your experience with sub teachers ....I feel your pain dude, uncanny how they ALL would mess up my name. Somehow, somewhere, some teacher thought that "Siddharth" = "Sea Shark" .... cool, but not quite right :/

[@caicaizi11]

And then the whole class would be staring at you like you're a weirdo...it's so exhausting gosh.

[@AgentDRJ]

+ebonhawk Honestly teachers should have notes for subs to read on the preferred names for their students. (This could also include pronunciations for names)

[@allisonzhang1]

+ebonhawk Heeey i know a kid named Siddharth. People call him Sid.

[@sachab6098]

omg there was this one sub who INSISTED on calling me "Alexandria" (instead of Alexandra) and I go by "Alex" because "Alexandra" is too girly for me ugh. and "alexandra" is your regular greek name, so common in english

[@capp12249]

My Cantonese name is "Ka Wai" but people ALWAYS pronounce it as "kawaii" and it drives me crazy! I had this girl ask me if I was roleplaying... ???????

[@EIDiabeetus]

Kawaii becoming a thing in English is annoying, especially since even for the word (outside of your name) is already mispronounced. Although Asian names tend to get butchered when brought here. But the original point, the word cute exists in English. It's entirely translatable.

[@joseagustincuesta]

+El Diabeetus I hate it when people use foreign words that are translatable. I'm like, you have an expansive language and a word like that exists in your language, use it.

[@EIDiabeetus]

+Jetto Agu Yeah, I'd get it if the word/concept isn't easy to translate properly, but most of the time it's not the case.

[@schildkroete]

is your name pronounced more like Ga Wai? the initial K could be tripping them up. the British-era transcription system has led to a lot of false equivalences in the romanization of Cantonese sounds that will confuse readers of English. For example, 佢 卡 記 國 家 will all be romanized with the letter K even though there are two different initial sounds in this set of words.

[@schildkroete]

more on this point: my parents gave me the Chinese (Cantonese) middle name 宗麒, and it's spelled CHUNG-KAY on all official documents (I'm an American), but if it were spelled in a way that corresponded more closely to how it's actually pronounced in Cantonese, then it would be spelled more like JUNG KAY or JUNG KEI. Also, there's the issue of pronouncing these syllables with the correct tones, but that's expecting a lot out of English speakers...

[@nyracalico]

My name is Christine Lin but in Chinese it is 林佳馨 (Lin Jia Xin) but at school I get called "Ninja Sin"

[@marialichen3079]

I Don't Even Have a Bias My chinese name is 李嘉欣 (Li jia xin)

[@Mharriscreations]

Do you like the nickname Ninja Sin? I kind of have the opposite problem from you, I live in China and always hear my name mispronounced too. I can't tell you how many times Michael becomes Maike'r. But I don't mind at all. I go by my Chinese name too, so I'll often hear 何睿思 (He Rui Si) as well.

[@ibelthorns5610]

I Don't Even Have a Bias Lin Jia Xin is a beautiful name.

[@simjieyi9048]

I Don't Even Have a Bias I feel you. I have a Chinese name too and even locals can't pronounce my name.

[@nishthedr]

Haha

[@annajohnson3001]

Spurthi - such a beautiful name

[@xCHOXOLATEx]

I live in a predominantly Vietnamese area, but the teachers still refuse to learn how to pronounce our names correctly. It's kind rude right ??? Like how you gonna have over 1000 students over the years with the last name "Nguyen" and never even bother to try and say it right ??? How many times you gonna pronounce "An" as "Anne" instead of "On" like it's really not that hard ??? But then the white teachers get pissy if you don't learn how to say their 80 syllable German last name right ://

[@nikkie1a]

I think it's mainly because American have a hard time pronouncing the "ng" in the name because I don't think there are really much English words that has that same pronunciation. So I don't think they're doing it on purpose and often times, people gives up correcting them so they think it's acceptable to pronounce it like that even though it might not. I have the same problem with my name "Nhàn" and rarely do teachers ever get it right either but I understand that they can't pronounce the"Nh" part so I just have them pronounce "Non" instead :)

[@ayoolaogunyimika1597]

+Chesed I could be wrong, but isn't the "ng" silent/barely pronounced?

[@nikkie1a]

+Ayoola O Not really, you do pronounce it but I really don't know how to explain it xD

[@yippehanako]

I was always told by Vietnamese to pronounce it like "wen", how is it said correctly?

[@floatingrat]

Mineral It depends on which part of Vietnam you’re from. I’m from the north and it definitely isn’t pronounced like that there

[@angelvy07]

The guy talking about teachers, especially substitute teachers...SAME.

[@cfG21]

+angelvy07 i proudly tell people my name. i don't care if they can't pronounce it. just don't tell me how to pronounce my own name.

[@angelvy07]

cfG21 I understand, I tell people my name when they pronounce it correctly. :)

[@PLiu-te3ok]

+angelvy07 That literally gave me such big anxiety in school. Even in college a tiny bit but it's lessened ever since I just stopped giving a fck

[@ioncekilledamanwithmyshoe]

angelvy07 same

[@keirorin]

asian americans often feel disconnected from their cultures, myself included, so a name can really carry a lot. i'm mixed so many assume i'm either white or latina or whatever. but when people ask where my name comes from, i get to remind myself that i am asian and it's my culture i get to share with others.

[@stantalentstansf9304]

bee.syrup i feel super disconnected with my heritage as an asian american and i even have a western first name. lololol at least i know the language plus english. i don't really feel like i belong tbh, i'm asian but i don't really feel like it, strangely enough. i'm also american but i don't really feel that american, except for my attitude tbhhhh.

[@cheesemamthegreat4573]

bee.syrup Lol same everyone thinks I am Hispanic

[@PHlophe]

i feel like asians are purposefully cutting off ties. How is it that nigerians, south africans etc.. can still be westerner and retain traces of the original cultures and you guys can't . Trying too hard to be white is hella toxic. Elliott rodgers

[@graytrbl18]

I feel the same.

[@HinataPlusle]

Lecchiffresix six Asians have it much harder when it comes to keeping their "ethnic" culture (as if white weren't ethnic themselves, but I digress) because we are much likely to be seen as foreign. We have to cut off ties much more if we want a chance at being assimilated and accepted, be it by white people or by fellow people of color who aren't the same ethnicity. That's not to say black people for example don't have to deal with lots of shit, including from Asians, but since their presence in the Western world dates to long before Asians (and many other reasons), they do tend to be considered more "natural" in Western spaces. This thing is called racial triangulation if I'm not mistaken.

[@GGSoneBAPBaby]

My name is pronounced Lay-Low-Sa and it means "Follow God" in Benin a ethnic group in Nigeria. I've always been super proud of my name since day 1 and still to this day. I remember being in elementary school with my "cousins" who all had Nigerian names and by the time I was in 3rd grade all their names became English names. I never understood why and I actually never asked them why they changed it. As an adult I already establish to people when they automatically want to give me a nickname after just 5 minutes of knowing me. That I'm Lay-Low-Sa and will only answer to Lay-Low-Sa. It's not hard because if you can pronounce Arnold Schwarzenegger than my name should be a walk in the park. Whenever I settle down my children will not be getting English names. I loved being the only Lelosa in my school growing up it boosted my self esteem when I really needed it.

[@marm818]

Preach!

[@derwandererKK]

That's cool, but god doesn't exist. So your name means "follow nothing".

[@GGSoneBAPBaby]

Sandy Jürgens If God doesn't exist neither do you

[@derwandererKK]

haha, tell mr. god to punish me

[@GGSoneBAPBaby]

Sandy Jürgens Don't contradict yourself you just just said he doesn't exist now you want me to tell him something. Either you believe he exist or you don't.

[@eilidhxxx9115]

Does anyone lie about their name in Starbucks ?

[@Dani-vb9ux]

yup☝

[@beatriceclaire4664]

Yep

[@AlltNorrOmAleArNorrland]

Absolutely

[@meowplayspokemon8332]

I don't give them my name. Actually, I don't go to Starbucks.

[@secretlyabitch2786]

Never went to Starbucks but I'm going to lie about my name.

[@Toriavi895]

A name doesn't make you boring... Your personality does....

[@hanh6822]

No it doesn't, dont lie

[@frofrofrofro900]

True

[@SpringbokASMR]

I have an Asian last name and people are so afraid to even try to say it! I love when they have to call it out at a doctor's office or at the pharmacy. It comes out differently every time, and with palpable hesitation :) In any case, I'm glad your parents decided to have the most amazing kid in the world

[@stevenkwlim]

Springbok ASMR :)

[@INFINITE4Invasion]

+Springbok ASMR what do you mean by last name?

[@TaiFerret]

+Springbok ASMR Is it a Chinese last name? I know Chinese Pinyin can be confusing sometimes.

[@Yehezkel82773]

I love my name! Yecheskel (יחזקאל) means the strength of God. I really like this video. Ethnic Americans should embrace that, and never lose that special identity that was bestowed unto us.

[@IamThatIsTwoMice]

Couldn't agree more !

[@TheMechanicalGirl999]

+Yecheskel Yeshiah Francis Ah, a fellow Jew! Well ok, I cannot claim my Jewish side according to traditionalists as only my father's side is Jewish but that did NOT stop him from showing me bits of the culture! My mom's side is Portestant/Catholic. My last name is Ukrainian (no clue about its translation) and no body can ever get it! It is Leichtling (Like-ling). I always get Leecheling, Leichletter, Leichtel, Leichtle, I got Leichenstein (or however it's spelled once), etc.! only 3 people have ever said it right outside of family! I only recently found out it was Ukrainian after this guy with the same last name randomly added me on Facebook and through chat we found out we were kin! I had always thought it was German as that's where we knew dad's father came from on his journey to the USA but he didn't say much else and as he showed around Elise Isle we just assumed he put the province name for last name like so many others! However, through people that have added me I have learned so much more! Shalom Yecheskel! -Jessica

[@wonstin509]

Thank you Steven for another great production. It really relates to me as even my English name has a meaning behind it. Even though I am male, my parents gave me the name Alison. Though it was universal until 1990, sadly it became a female name the year after when I was born. My dad explained it to me as our last name is Lee (Li) I am A Li Son. It has made me very proud since.

[@stevenkwlim]

Whoa! That's a really cool story.

[@goshadowkenny]

How are Spurthi, Ying and Seung hard to pronounce? In my experience, school teachers and Starbucks employees tend to be the most dyslexic of humanity but very aware that the latter could just be trolling.

[@nadhiaallaire2874]

Some people are not used to some letters, I live in Hong Kong and a lot of people have difficulties saying the letter 'N', so whenever I introduce myself as Nadhia, a lot of Hong Kong Chinese would alter my name to Ladia. In Japan, people have difficulties saying the letter 'L' instead, so they change a word that contains an 'L' letter to an 'R'. I think in this case, some people may not be used to pronouncing names that aren't common to their ears or aren't common in their society. I hope this helps hehe

[@nishthedr]

Yes

[@adelelim3770]

YO MALAYSIAN BROTHER IM ALSO A LIM HELLO

[@enya6224]

boi

[@KirakoKhor]

HELLO MALAYSIAN PEOPLE IM NOT A LIM BUT HI

[@aneliseat7934]

adele lim huiyoooo when I saw Lim I immediately knew that Steven definitely has a Malaysian dad xD

[@jisuiscute5054]

I'm Lim but Korean

[@mamamememoo]

My mum is a Lim but we're Singaporean. You just can't assume someone's location based on their family name:)

[@Doan84]

European names all have a meaning, but most of them got "lost" over time. Many are a derivation of a derivation of another language etc. For example: Steven is a derivation of Stephen, which is a derivation of Stefanos(Greek), which is a derivation of another Greek word(which I can't write with my keyboard), which means "wreath, crown, honour, reward"

[@Ling74750]

+Doan08 My European name has a very obvious meaning :D It means the Roman

[@katraylor]

+Doan08 Yeah, I was going to say--any unusual name is going to get the question "What does your name mean?" including European ones.

[@issacmiria1632]

My Chinese name is Renzhi.... My European name is Renzi....

[@Mikancchi]

I think another reason why the Western name's meaning got lost is because of their habit of naming their kids based on the name of someone they know. Like naming their girl their grandmother's name in the hope of her to become as good person as her grandmother. It's not about the literal meaning anymore. It's about that person's identity, or the parents' memories about that person as the basis of choosing their kids' name

[@udittlamba]

+Doan08 well, most asians do no the meaning of their names, mine mean to rise. Our names are chosen on the basis of the meaning, while the western names aren't anymore.

[@timeless215]

*that moment when you know how to pronounce a korean name cause you literally know all the KPOP idols name.*

[@Meraki-Me]

hahahahahaha when you try to learn japanese from anime and korean from kpop

[@shruthakeerthi4559]

Same seungbum is so easy to pronounce compared to Chaeryeong or Hyunkyung

[@ymb3138]

The coca cola bottle struggle is real, that and those name key rings

[@tazz_820]

Can you do a video about the struggles of being Asian but not looking Asian. I am one of those people because this one dude in my class, when I said I'm Asian,HE FRIGGIN DIDN'T BELIEVE ME LIKE WHY WOULD I BE LYING????????

[@thesebiscuits825]

I can't find my name on a Coca Cola bottle 😂😂🤣

[@jenniferkwok4597]

My parents gave me both English and Chinese, but my English name is not on my ID or any kind of documents. One time the teacher doesn't know my English name and she try to said my Chinese name, and some fking annoying mean girls start laughing. Like seriously, respect everyone's name, they all got special meanings, it doesn't mean it is strange when you cannot pronounce it. Actually I was low-key angry at them:(

[@annidang1377]

So I was born in China, and my mom gave me the name "Anni" which is how 安妮 is spelled in Chinese and it actually sounds almost the same as "Annie". In Chinese, "AN" means safe, and "NI" means girl, so my name basically means "a safe girl". Every time I introduce myself, I would tell them "I'm Annie without the 'e'". It's unique and convenient. I love my name and I love my mom.

[@hz3274]

Their names are not that bad, at least English speakers can read them (even if they do it wrong).My name is Zixiao. Some of my teachers are like "Zee..shee... Ok I'm not gonna try." When I went to Starbucks, I just say my name is Sara/Amy/Amanda.

[@wwhjams]

This is super late but I'm actually really interested in knowing how to pronounce Zixiao if you see this (:

[@dann2678]

^ zee-shyao i guess

[@Rainbonyte]

@@wwhjams damn its really hard to put into english letters. Kinda like tze-seow but (im guessing its Chinese) in chinese it could have a different intonation, like for example zi can be pronounced zī zí zî (but the carrot is inverted), zì or zi. You can sorta follow the intonation if you follow the line on the letter i. So the first one would be a slightly higher pitched flat tone, second would be midrange to high, kinda like when you say “huh?”. For the third one is from midrange to low then back to midrange at the last second. The next one is a short and concise zi, from high to midrange, like if your friend took your ice cream and you went “hey!” And finally the last one is similar to the fourth one, short and concise but with 0 intonation at all. Same goes to xiao. I know a lot of people pronounce it as ‘shiao’ but the xi in xiao sounds more like the letter c, and the ao sound like the screams of someone who stubbed their toe. (ow)

[@Rainbonyte]

hope it helped, Mandarin is a tricky very tonal language. 妈 麻 马 骂 are all pronounced ‘ma’ but with the first four intonations. First one means mother, second means numb, third means horse and fourth means to scold/apprehend.

[@wwhjams]

@@Rainbonyte thank you! I've looked into Mandarin before and know it's tricky like that, so I appreciate your depth.

[@maj3stic289]

Seung is such a nice sounding name :)

[@daniellehoreau7721]

I think most (Americans) are either oblivious or don't care...or both! My birth name is Alyssa. A normal English western white name. People still get it wrong. It doesn't have a special spelling or anything. It might be because I'm not ethnically white. People always spell it wrong when I tell them or pronounce it wrong when they see it. They see the first two letters and then practically auto correct the rest. Very annoying. 😒😕

[@MrInsdor]

My name is Sinoël. I'm not sure if the name was ever used as a first name before, but there was a french actor called Jean Sinoël. My mom put together Simon and Noël and surprisingly they accepted it under the condition that I'll have two common middle names for boys. Germany has pretty strict name laws, but somehow that one slipped through :P

[@PHlophe]

ist ja komisch ! also ehrlich . "Germany has pretty strict name laws" , wie was ? seit wann !

[@Thaleya1]

nice name! Very cool spelling aswell. My name is Simone (swedish/italian pronounciation),

[@ibelieveinxinwei]

your parents are Malaysian! that's super cool. i'm from Malaysia as well, and for the longest time i really wanted to have an English name, because my name is Xin Wei and a lot of people tend to go Zin Wei or Sing Wei or whatever. it has never annoyed me, but i've just felt a bit sad about how people would always get my name wrong. however, growing up into my campus years now, i realized that my identity is stuck with this name. i don't want to be anyone else but Xin Wei, even when this is actually quite a common name among Chinese boys and girls. (: thanks for making this video! really love the spirit of your videos, they're all very authentic and genuine, keep it up!

[@stevenkwlim]

#MalaysiaPride

[@nadhiaallaire2874]

This video was actually the complete opposite to me, I was brought up in an Asian country (Indonesia) with a Western name. I'm Indonesian-Irish, and my full name is Nadhia Faith Seed. But back when I was in school, no one could pronounce my name correctly, not even my English teachers (which is weird). Everyone would call me Nadhia Fa-it, or Pa-it, or Fatih. And they would pronounce my surname as Si-ed or Sad lol. It was until I reached a point where I became frustrated and I decided to go by Nadhia Robyns, a name that I 100% made up.

[@jenny6497]

I am glad that you made this particular video because i find it very relatable. Thank you!

[@Geraldus_]

as an indonesian chinese , i dont know my "chinese name", it is really different with malaysian chinese because the chinese culture in malaysia (for malay chinese) is still really strong compare to here in indonesia. i just know my chinese surename is Tan. lolll sometime i feel so envy with my malaysian friends who has both chinese and english name :(

[@ashleyxoxo___4807]

Can you make a video of a Malaysian life vs an American life

[@stevenkwlim]

ashleyxoxo___ haha are you from malaysia? what would you like to know?

[@james7464]

+Steven Lim omg I'm from Malaysia too! :D

[@sharonchew2467]

I'm Malaysian too :3

[@Maimaimai8695]

+Steven Lim I'm from Malaysia too! ^^ Can you speak Bahasa? :B

[@camelliahearts9184]

+ashleyxoxo___ fellow malaysian here too! which part of malaysia are you from?

[@sunkissism]

I have my full name written on the roll call list, which is ZhuoTing Justine Jiang. Once during camp, an employee of the camp site was calling out names to arrange us into groups. She had trouble pronouncing Asian names, when she was calling my name she was like "Justine with a few words", I was kind of offended. Even if she didn't get it right, she can still at least try to pronounce my name.

[@SaadKayani1]

Is this the guy from buzz feed omg I love him but I didn't know he was on KZbin with his own channel :D

[@jenyouna]

I love you on Buzzfeed and am so happy I stumbled upon your KZbin channel. Thank you for representing us Asians & Asian-Americans in America on Buzzfeed 😊

[@hyunmm1455]

Lol that bit about teachers not being able to pronounce your name, I feel you XD I'm korean and my name is hyun jeong, and one teacher just decided to call me jung cuz she could never pronounce the hyun part 😆😆 but even the jung part was wrong...

[@kaym5631]

Might not be Asian, but I can relate so much. The name is Kayleigh - "keeper of keys" in Gaelic. My mom only gave me this name because she thought it sounded beautiful. Growing up, no one could say my name right, spell it right (always thought it was spelt the Asian way - Kaylee"), and there was many times people forgot my name. By grade 6, in a new school, I had went by the name Kay. I dropped the "Leigh", and it seemed so much easier unless someone tried to call my house looking for me. My mom would assume they got the wrong number because they'd ask for Kay, not Kayleigh. After high school, I went by my full name because there was a few girls named Hailey, Keilee, Kilye, Kalei, and even a guy named Kay (he was Asian). My rule of thumb now in regards to my name, when being introduced.... I go by Kayleigh but give the person the option to call me Kay. Usually those that end up being in my life will call me by my full name while those that don't stick around know me as Kay.

[@simoncao5924]

this thought only comes into grown people mind. 5 years ago i kept thinking of what english name i should have. However , the longer i stay in the USA , the more confident i feel about myself. They are not all that great so why should i be like them. I like my name, as least it has a meaning. Lập Quyền (to set power/rights)

[@Zeewman]

Western names also have meanings, but people just forgot them.

[@Somnifacious]

Is that 立权（立權）in Sino-Vietnamese?

[@OikawaTooruSetter]

There is ALWAYS a pause before my name. And then the teacher gets it wrong anyway. I like my name because it's unique, but when I was younger, I always thought about changing my name. And whenever I got to Starbuck, I never tell them my real name, I always choose something like Amy, or Jessica. I respond to the weirdest things now. My name's Thalia, btw. I hate it when people call me Talia, but I'll still respond to it. My whole 7th grade year, my math teacher called me Tally. And my P.E. Teacher couldn't figure out my name and decided to meld it with my middle name, Lin, creating Tie-lin. Other common ways people pronounce my name, Dalia, Ta-short pause-Halia. I always wanted a keychain with my name on it, never got it.

[@jsicaong502]

Oh my, hi mate, been watching you on several youtube channel and just found out that you are Malaysian as well! Cool! Keep it up ya,Lim.

[@h.aubreyalmonte8589]

This makes me feel good, Steven! Thanks! I love people with unique names, and I always make it a point to pronounce their names as they are spelled and as they were given, because your name means a lot of things to you and it's about you. :)

[@haemilee8875]

when people call you hay-mee, even though i just said my name was pronounced he-mi

[@haemilee8875]

but i will never be ashamed of my name, its part of who i am and love it

[@harshasurabhi7517]

Haemi Lee It's nice to know that u don't want to lose your name for the sake of other ppl

[@Mharriscreations]

Is hae in Haemi pronounced similar to Chinese pinyin where the 'he' sounds more like 'huh'?

[@franc7160]

hey ying! your name also has a meaning in my language Ying mean girl/woman Ying is a formal form to called a girl/woman like señorita I guess 😊

[@deebee9120]

My name is Dacia, pronounced "Das-Sia" and it's always been a mission to get people do say it correctly. The name is greek, I don't get upset if people don't get it right the first time. When it is not in English it is difficult. Even if people make jokes around with my name I don't mind. It's not an insult, it's just banter.

[@milcasalinas8717]

Dacia Benson i like your name 😊

[@xuan8170]

Be proud of who you are and all the cultures and heritage exist because of you guys. The people from Asia with ethic names.

[@SkyNocturne0]

I can't believe that you're a fellow Malaysian, Steven! Loving all your videos! Keep up with the awesome work! So proud of you! :)

[@MaricaAmbrosius]

What does "Spurthi" mean?

[@stevenkwlim]

+Alia she says it at the end of the video!

[@MaricaAmbrosius]

Steven Lim No, she just says that the first part of it was based on astrology.

[@mxxxn]

Haha, I'm pretty sure it isn't actually a word, her parents just used the beginning sound and randomly came up with the end I think.

[@bluetangfish7541]

+May Win +Alia Actually, Spurthi means "inspiration" or "enthusiasm".

[@Muser4Life]

+monkeydumplings Also I should add it can be spelled as "Spoorthy" and "Spoorthi". :)

[@slightly6006]

I wish I had an Asian name but my Grandad was Malaysian and I'm only a quarter Malaysian and my mam and i have grown up our whole life in England and she also has an English name so she must have thought it would be weird if I had an Asian name even though now I'm massively interested interested in my heritage and finding out about Asian culture

[@Meraki-Me]

your username says it all

[@루이안-n9l]

Wow the struggle is real esp when you cant find your name on the coke cans

[@miorarabemanantsoa2527]

Hey I am Malagasy, I totally can relate. Nice video. Some teachers totally gave up on reading my name in college :/

[@dalalm1821]

wow Spurthi is an amazing name it makes me think of all of the good stuff 😍

[@peiyannn]

I CANT FIND MY NAME ON A COLA BOTTLE. SO DAMN TRUE HAHAHA

[@aishahm647]

my full name is nuraisyah masturah. "nur" means light, "aisyah" means one who lives, and "masturah" means one who is hidden/covered. i just go by aisyah though, which is the malay spelling of the arabic word عاءشة, and its pronounced i-shah. its also the most common name ever where i come from hahaha i literally know like 15 other aisyahs :D my family is indian muslim and have been for generations, which is why most of us have arabic names (muslims here tend to go for arabic names with good islamic meanings) instead of indian names. but honestly, sometimes i kinda wish i had a name to represent my ethnicity, cos i feel like thats important too...

[@lilimyu1040]

That's sooooo beautiful ! I've never heard of this name before but it sounds like a super sweet, feminine elfic fantasy name to me. I love it!

[@hahaa1537]

Yes! I think it's sad that muslims who aren't arab feel like they have to have arab names and celebrate arab culture more than they celebrate their own! Idk I just feel like where you come from is more important..

[@tomboyishgirl45]

Yo, fellow Nur Aisyah (well, technically my name is spelled the same without the ‘h’). Also, same. I know more ‘Aisyah’s/‘aisya’s than I could on my fingers. In the end, people would shorten my name, give me a nickname sometimes, my middle name ‘Maisarah’ (they call me a guy bc of that name🤦🏻‍♀️) or just call me by my dad’s name. It’s annoying when there’s like 5 people with the same name in class and you have to be sure if it’s you or someone else. But I like my name, it’s the name my mother chose for me. She liked the meaning ‘penuh semangat’ which means full of determination in Malay. I guess I turned out to be a very determined person when the situation calls for it.

[@pr7y4]

I didn't know Steven's parents were Malaysian. His mom even has the accent.

[@ciciwei2261]

This means so much to me. I've always been uncomfortable with my original name. This made me feel so much better 💛

[@fiqri7]

Just found this vid. I would like to say My name is Fiqri. Im proud of it. Im Malaysian too. It means fikr in arabic which mean my thoughts. Which actually became a reality due to my overthinking personality and thoughtfulness towards people. Im not a an american asian but I found this video inspiring thus putting my name out there. Thank you for this splendid video Steven Lim I enjoyed it so much.

[@riarushi]

Yay Malaysian squad waddup!

[@lannizam1875]

Fiona Chan yau

[@MrAilsaAng]

i am watching this today & WTF YOUR PARENTS ARE MALAYSIAN

[@MrAilsaAng]

it's kinda weird hearing & seeing "malaysia" on an american yt channel LOL

[@zhangyixing6524]

+MrAilsaAng I share this sentiment xD

[@prayogaa.z1778]

+MrAilsaAng LOL, same -_-" :|

[@iamavelyn2681]

MrAilsaAng me too XD

[@ikAEmmA]

YOU'RE MALAYSIAN???!!!! HEY I'M MALAYSIAN. WHO STILL STUCK IN THIS COUNTRY. XD

[@ikAEmmA]

+raemyeon let's fly to south korea...

[@xhae]

I'm Malaysian too :3 Grew up in Hong Kong though. I miss Malaysia so much and I wish I could visit more often.

[@shajidahsazali1610]

i am Malaysian. SO PROUD TO BE HERE AND HAPPY TO GET STUCK IN THIS COUNTRY :)

[@lucasm4299]

ikAEmmA His parents are from China.

[@cheeko4319]

GO STREAM BLACK SUIT BY SUPER JUNIOR hes malaysian chinese

[@joasiaa8130]

I really liked this video! It's interesting how people look at it differently and it's so lovely to hear that they want to keep their names and are not ashamed or something. I myself always wanted to be neutral and not jundged by where I'm from so I let people call me Joanna, but in reality I don't like it as much. I like that you made this video, for both the imigrants and "normal" people to understand :)

[@cretnotonic]

Great video!!! I have a Chinese name but don't go by it. But even my English name gets misspelled and misheard.

[@juliedinh5079]

My name is Đinh Khôi Xuân Trúc, I have two middle names! "Khôi" means pure, "Xuân" means the spring season and "Trúc" means the bamboo tree. In Chinese and Vietnamese culture, the bamboo tree represents a man who is a gentleman, intellectual and never surrenders to the evil. And spring is the season in which all plants grow and flowers bloom, so it kinda makes sense, right? When I came to the US, I shortened my name to be "Truc Dinh". Most people pronounce it to "truck" which is a little offensive to me, so I tell them to call me Julie instead. It is not that I don't treasure my name. In fact, I love my name and my language so much that I don't accept any mispronunciation. Nice try, but if you can't, then don't ruin my name.

[@withoutpassid]

+Khôi Xuân Trúc Đinh : Vietnamese names start with "Tr", "Ng" are very difficult for English speakers to pronounce. My name is Hiep and American often misspell my name as "Heip". Good thing that you have an English name.

[@autumnslatest9893]

My guess (sorry if it's wrong): Truc Tr: instead of a "tchr" sound like when you pronounce "[tr]uck", "[tr]end", "[tr]ee] with an American accent you pronounce the T normally then the "r" like... Idk how to describe this, it's not an R in English, but in American accent it exists as the "tt" in "bu[tt]er" but a bit thicker than that, with the tip of the tongue still only a bit behind the front teeth, at the roof of the mouth and the rest of the tongue into a downwards arc. [sorry too long a description xD]. And uc: like in br[ook]. Umm, how'd I get?xD

[@withoutpassid]

Runnah M Yes, pronunciation of Trook is close enough to Trúc. But in Vietnamese, after saying Trúc, both of your lips must come together, not separate like Trook in English.

[@autumnslatest9893]

+withoutpassid wut... lips close? Doesn't that make a "m" or a "b" sound?

[@withoutpassid]

Runnah M Yep, say Trookm if you can.

[@dieud9834]

My name is Dieu( Điệu) which mean miracle. My mom chose this name for me because she think I'm am dependable and can make miracles thing happened. I'm happy to have this name that I have. My little brother name is Nam and it mean south. My mom name him this because our family live in south Vietnam.

[@youngmeeeeeeeeee]

Nam means south in korean too! That's so cool

[@dieud9834]

+youngsoo23 well we move to America and we live in the south still.

[@withoutpassid]

+Dieu Star No, your name must be "Diệu" not "Điệu". Điệu means girly. Nam can be "South" or "Man".

[@gyugyu3372]

+Dieu Star I don't know how you pronunce it but dieu mean god in french x)

[@dieud9834]

+withoutpassid thx for the correction. I got confused which one is the correct one.

[@Wild4lon]

My parents gave me a Western name. Unfortunately it was the most ridiculous name, for me. It's outdated, old, and rare. So not only do I have a distasteful first name, I have an asian last name. Plus I look like a stereotypical asian. And I play the piano. Someone help me.

[@tina625]

same. and my parents are sterotypical too

[@PLiu-te3ok]

+Wild4lon At least your name isn't a food that's commonly thrown into people's faces as a joke in the US

[@stantalentstansf9304]

ahhh same i'm an asian with a western name and an asian last name that nobody can say not even my relatives orz plus i'm an ap student with glasses that plays the piano haa.

[@oldcowbb]

+ Pai Liu think the other way, it's the most amazing number in mathematics

[@shanhuyang8695]

I've watched several of your videos during the past year or so but not until this one I realize your father is my Dean and he hooded me at my doctoral graduation ceremony last month.

[@aoifegrieve1610]

We have a similar issue in ireland, my name is aoife (pronounced eefa) and i have friends with names like siobhan (pronounced shivaun) and when i meet someone from america most times they cant pronounce it

[@dirys24]

But seung's name could actually be Shawn too ryt? I mean steven's name is English and that could be the case with Shawn too ryt? It's weird that spurthi asked Seung what his real name was lol

[@ewg7557]

My first name, Emily, is too generic, which is why my parents chose it. They didn't want my name to be the butt of a joke so they chose a popular name that they thought Americans would have. Sadly, there are 4 Emily's in many of my classes and I hate it. ;-; Oh, but my middle name is Danzhu (or Danchu) and in 4th grade there was a fad of calling me Dan.

[@irun_mon]

I am changing my name because Kira can't kill me easily

[@brandonthomas9609]

I love this. My mum named me after the Lebanese poet Kahlil Gibran and I've always cleaved to that. It's funny because I never read his work until I was in college but we actually were very similar people in life and ideology.

[@Yewsingz]

heyyyy~ the mom's voice still have the Malaysian touch to it

[@Kimberly-fq1tm]

I have two first names I have a chinese name and an english name so people can go by my chinese naame or english name and it would still be me lol

[@jaehyunjustwantsmilk2174]

“I can’t find my name on a Coca Cola bottle” 😂😂

[@DarkFoxV]

Everyone gives up with Russian names! XD or probably most slavic names for that matter www

[@rusabbaig6851]

DarkFoxV you're right, but there was one Russian name of a scientist maybe which I found really cool- "Igor Irodov", so awesome!

[@jyo-ti8689]

Love it... I do agree with ying that the best thing about our names given by our parents is that the names have a meaning & i agree with spurthi that it sounds unique. P.s - my name is jyoti & it means light or rays of sun

[@tunacharm]

I love my name, and I love that my parents gave me a unique name. However, school is a pain in the ass because every time theres roll call, theres always a pause before my name. It isn't even that hard!! JIN-SANG!!! I wish I could just go by Jin-Sang instead of Jinny. Even when I go by Jinny (because I wanted to keep some of my original name), people call me Jenny. Another huge HUGE problem, is that I'm only half korean! People read my name and look at my face, then ask me what I would like to be called. It pisses me off, because if I'm half white, half korean, then apparently I'm not allowed to have a korean name.

[@RainbowAdlina]

from malaysia?! ayyyyy im malaysian!

[@Fruitypebbles489]

Ying isn't even hard to pronounce compare to other names....

[@meghnashankar591]

My name is Meghna and it means rain cloud. My mom purposely spelled it Meghna instead of Meghana because she asked people in her office to pronounce Meghana and they all said May-Gaa-Na. Of course, Americans call me Megan, my friends spell it Megna, and Indians spell it Meghana. *sigh* can't catch a break here.

[@federicaxx9452]

it is a greek name .

[@vedikapandey2468]

No. It's a Hindi / Sanskrit name

[@federicaxx9452]

Megana is a greek name

[@vedikapandey2468]

I'm a native Hindi speaker. I've learnt Sanskrit . I know Meghna has originated from Sanskrit. If you don't believe me, just google it. :)

[@vedikapandey2468]

Megana and Meghna are different names. Probably Megana is a Greek name. I don't know about it. But Meghna is a Sanskrit name for sure

[@FefeHpg]

i relate to this so much, but it's kind of funny (? sad? idk) that a lot of people think my english name is my chinese name...

[@JCXP123]

Haha cool you're malaysian! :D When I watched the buzzfeed worth it steak episode and you called your mom, I was like "omg she's either from Singapore or Malaysia" XD

[@heidilikwa8988]

i lost my ethnic (chinese) first and last name name due to discriminatory laws

[@beep7634]

Heidi Likwa WHAT?! DUDE THATS SAD WHO TF MADE THOSE?!?! What was ur name before u had to change it???

[@7bandithill]

Okay, so I know I'm not going to be able to present you guys with a really cool foreign name, but I do have a somewhat unusual name for a guy - Hillary. I was supposed to be named after a grandfather, but when he died, and I was in my 30's we realized that wasn't a part of his legal name, in fact, he didn't even go by this name so I'm not really sure how it was determined I should be called this based off a mystery name. Anyway, I hated my name growing up but not because of the Clinton's, they weren't well known until I was in high school. I just hated it, but over time began to find it to be one of those names others don't forget because it's attached to a guy. So, yea, I go by Hillary, or Hill. I thought the segment of the video about the meaning of our names was cool as well because my name means cheerful/happy and well, that pretty much sums me up! Guess I should claim Pharrell's Happy song as my theme now.

[@stevenkwlim]

Whoa that is super unique. Thanks for sharing Hillary!

[@qanwho]

spurthi is so pretty ajskskk

[@hollypendred]

This is so wholesome naww I’m living for this wholesome content from my imaginary boyfriend ❤️ also Steven, you’re the cutest baby ever! You’re also very cute now so makes sense 😉

[@mrsjayceful]

This topic is on the point. So many malaysia Chinese happened to have a western name before their Chinese name.

[@БекШейхзаде]

Dont even try with my name

[@sincerelyyourphysicsteache9123]

Okay, I won't. ;)

[@lucasm4299]

Бек Шейхзаде Byek Shayhzadye? I think.

[@Zeewman]

Bek Shejhadze?

[@田笑宇]

What is sad is that I know a lot of people whose parents are both Chinese, and have a Chinese surname, but don't know how to pronounce it as they were brought up speaking only English.Then they pronounce their surname with English, and fail horribly, like saying 和 hé as h-ee, 孙 sūn as s-uh-n, 周 zhōu as z-ow or 张 zhāng as z-ay-ng. If you want to find out the proper pronunciation just copy the characters into Google Translate or something.

[@WaaDoku]

Whyyyy??? Don't change your name only for the convenience of others! Let them learn a little bit outside their cultures.

[@WaaDoku]

***** ....are you stalking me?? ;>_>

[@WaaDoku]

***** Are you sure? You're not a NSA agent or something? =x x)

[@yukihyoka6577]

+和ァ独 well no one can pronounce my name here in Canada and even some Chinese have problem remembering my Chinese name because the name is very wired...I used to go by my last name only which is Li until there are too many Lis or Lees around, and I'm forced to give myself an English/Canadian name so that my employer can actually pronounce my name and remember who I am. I guess you have no choice but to change to an easy to pronounce name if your original name is too hard to pronounce for English speaking people in an English speaking country :P.

[@WaaDoku]

Anthony Hyoka Hm.... I don't agree.^^ The thing I'm doing is, I just tell people my name and let them pronounce it as they do. I find it kinda cute if they put their native accent into my name. Makes it kinda unique and personal. I would never change my name to a completely different one though.

[@gwangvatar]

i have chinese names.....mee kung foo

[@swtlikecndy4119]

6:09 I can totally relate to Seung's story there. On my first day of school (ever) in kindergarten, my teacher pronounced my name as 'Quinn' (my real name is Quyen), and I've stuck with it ever since, at least in settings with English. So teachers are a big influence...

[@dancingzombie4159]

Yes, beautiful video! I have a crappy last name (English/American), but it wasn't until I was with my Vietnamese boyfriend that I realized how others have it harder. I think he is proud of his name, and I am of course very used to it now (as well as his siblings names), but when I first met him (and his siblings) all of their names sounded silly/funny to me. I feel bad for them now because I know how I used to view their names, and I know that other people see their names that way and it makes me sad. I am glad they are proud of their names even though they are hard to pronounce and spell for Americans. I never understood why his parents named their youngest child an American name (he was born in America), but this video helped me to understand.