Woman shares how changing her Asian name to English has improved her life
June 2, 2023
A TikTok user has gone viral for explaining how she has been treated significantly better after changing her ethnic Chinese name to an English name.
In the video uploaded on May 18, the woman explains that she changed her birth name, “Xinyuan,” to “Sage” about four months ago when she started looking for jobs.
Sage, who grew up in the U.S., says she noticed how people “actually say [her] name now when they’re talking to [her] in casual conversation.”
“Before when I used Xinyuan, I would go hours or even days without really hearing my name being said,” Sage says.
The woman also discusses the name-related discrimination she experienced on dating applications and LinkedIn.
“On LinkedIn, I get way more inquiries of people asking me for people to apply for their jobs whereas before, I rarely ever got inquiries,” Sage shares.
She believes that recruiters would previously assume that she was an international applicant who needed a work visa sponsorship.
Sage also recalls barely getting any likes or matches on dating applications before she changed her name.
“The minute I changed my name, I’ve been getting more likes,” Sage says, “I’ll open Hinge and I’ll have 50 to 60 likes. I can’t even keep up with all of them anymore.”
I definitely don’t regret changing my name. I feel like it really suits me, and I’ve kind of already built an identity around it. It honestly made me a lot more confident because of how people are treating me now. It’s honestly really sad now that I say it out loud but you gotta do what you gotta do.
In an interview with Insider, Sage said that she is planning to change her name legally but has not done so due to the expensive and arduous process.
Viewers of the TikTok video, which has since garnered more than 40,000 views, shared their disappointment and agreed that name discrimination is still prominent.
”Growing up with an Asian name in a white town meant that no one said your name or they would make fun of it,” one viewer commented. “I feel your pain.”
“My mum changed my name to a Western one when I came to Canada because she didn’t want me to be bullied for it,” another person said.
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