Western Names for Chinese Identities: The Acquisition and Use of Western Personal Names among Chinese Business Professionals in Foreign-Invested Corporations

Abstract

Names are obvious markers of identity and denote various community memberships of an individual. Names also help to negotiate between an individual's various social identities, providing a window on the process of identity construction. It has become common practice for Chinese business professionals in foreign-invested corporations to acquire and use Western personal names. As the nation-state has emphasized globalization as a key component to modernization, these business professionals have gained particular prestige. Through the use of Western names, business professionals draw on traditional Chinese naming practices and demarcate their position as modern Chinese, thus making status claims on a national level. Western names are not acquired in a simple attempt to emulate the West; rather, Western names are a device by which Chinese business professional negotiate status in the global capitalist system. While the origins of the names are located in the West, the meaning of the names is locally constructed in relation to global capitalism in China. Western name use among Chinese business professionals challenges the boundaries of what is Chinese, and contests assumed associations between social practices and place.