<p>Okay so my first name is Joong-Hoon, and they are kind of hard to pronounce if I have to meet people or talk over the phone and tell them my name.
My friends call me Joong or by my last name, but I was thinking about getting an English name before going to college.</p>
<p>How about you guys?</p>
<p>My name is (derived from) ancient greek but people have no problem saying it.
from the moon goddess Selene >> name’s Selena. its easy, people say it rolls of the tongue :)</p>
<p>well my first name is clara, so they don´t really have a problem with that. problems do occur with my last name, which is czech ^^ well, i´ll just have to live with that.
i think, it is a major thing to change your name. i mean don´t you feel that you are one very specific Joong-Hoon?? i think our names are, in our age at least, quite important parts of our personality, and to change it just so some americans can pronounce it might be a bit too good a will?? well i would think about it… but, of course, if you think it is the right thing to do for you, then go ahead :)</p>
<p>@austriangirl
Is your last name Kovacova?</p>
<p>I am also from Korea, and I don’t have an English name. I think its kind of ridiculous to make another name just because Americans can’t pronounce your name PROPERLY.</p>
<p>I think you guys are right. I guess I will keep mine then :)</p>
<p>It seems very common for Asian students in particular to give themselves an English name. However, it isn’t compulsory. Are you going to be offended if people keep pronouncing and spelling your name wrong (everyone spells my name wrong even though it isn’t unusual in any way)? Will you feel left out or strange if all the other students from your country adopt English names and you do not (or vice versa)? Is your name going to cause problems due to confusion (eg it’s Bin Laden)?</p>
<p><a href=“eg%20it’s%20Bin%20Laden”>QUOTE</a>?
[/QUOTE]
ahahahahaha.</p>
<p>@ bilguun… lol no how come you think that?? my last name is reimitz, but originally it was spelled reimic ^^ bohemian-czech (for those who don´t know and are interested: bohemia was an area in today´s czech where german-speaking ppl lived, was a part of austria-hungary until 1918)</p>
<p>^ Wasn’t that the Sudetenland? Most of Bohemia was Czech.</p>
<p>Yep, however, one third of people living in the area of the present Czech republic was German. There were more Germans than Slovaks in Czechoslovakia…</p>
<p>btw Reimic sounds more like a polish name, I’m a Czech and I have never heard it…</p>
<p>There was this one really cool essay on the Tufts page that a girl wrote about her name, I’d suggest reading it:)
[Discovering</a> Voice: Essays That Matter - Office of Undergraduate Admissions - Tufts University](<a href="Tufts University Xochitl Castro) its a really good essay!</p>
<p>And there’s hardly any point in changing your name just so people can pronounce it easier. Your name is what makes you unique! The way I see it, you should be entitled to pick your own name so if YOU wanted a different name then that’s cool, but changing it just for the sake of someone else makes no sense whatsoever.</p>
<p>I have a Korean name too, but people usually can pronounce it after a few tries. I say, stick with it!</p>
<p>lol, well, it seems like it’s gonna be czech thread cuz I’m Czech too, and @austriangirl … your surname Reimitz [Reimič] sounds more Serbian than Czech that -itz- in the end is very often in countries of former Yugoslavia</p>
<p>I’m Kenneth, guess my username explains that. And I’m from Hong Kong. Well, this name was born with me, so I guess that’s another case.</p>
<p>But, I think calling you Joong is well enough, and less confusing. There can be a thousand Kenneth in the States, but probably a handful of Joong there.</p>
<p>Teach people to pronounce your name- it’s the beautiful one you’ve been born with and people owe you the respect of learning to be able to pronounce it correctly!</p>
<p>I’m Meghna, and people even in my home country pronounce that wrong sometimes 
It’s not that bad once you figure out how to pronounce it though, and I really don’t care much if people say it wrong.</p>
<p>well, maybe i have yugozslavian ancestors, that moved to czech at some point ^^… idk, it is what it is, i just know that they once came from a little village in czech to vienna, and since then we live here 
would be interesting to know more tho, maybe i can start a project to find my real ancestors!!!</p>