The Name Game Essay Example

My name is Mark Zhu. Mark is a Latin name that means "God of war" while Zhu was the surname of the emperors of the Ming dynasty in China. My parents chose to name me after a brave emperor who fought for his country and saved its people from oppression. Both names represent a fighter in the worst possible situations who comes out as a winner. They are constant reminders that I can achieve anything I set my mind on. Even though my last name is common in China, I have never felt compelled to change it. Since my name is short and easy to pronounce, many people prefer to address me by both names. Whenever I introduce myself, the person immediately recognizes my Chinese heritage. My last name is associated with people from a rich background and are expected to be proud and highly opinionated but I am a humble and open-minded man. On the other hand, Mark is associated with tall people but I have always been of a small stature. Growing up, I was always bullied because of my first name. Not only could I barely fight but also the name also had a Christian background. My classmates expected me to more like the disciple described in the Bible. After a few complaints to my parents about being bullied, my mother encouraged me to live up to my name. She would tell me to defend myself like the emperor I was and build an empire. This motivated me to work even harder to improve my grades as I also I dedicated my time to making friends. To get a group feel, I approached students whose names had a similar background story and together we could not be bullied since we defended each other and grew even closer.

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As a leader, I now realize that my name played a great role to who I grew up to be. After performing an interview with three of my group members as to why they chose me, and two out of three of them said it was because of what my name represented. I have always preferred to put my colleagues needs over my own by listening to them and acting accordingly. If I had a different name, I think I would be a completely different person because each occurrence involving my name has contributed to my attitude towards life. The only replacement I would choose would have the same meaning as the names I currently have. Two good examples are Henry which means "State ruler" or Richard which means "Dominant ruler". My confidence grew each time I would explain what my name means after I meet someone new especially those from a different heritage. Furthermore, adults would repeatedly remind me what my name meant as a child and I grew accustomed to being viewed as a leader. I was surprised to find out that I had two names that represent different cultures but have the same meaning. In situations that are conflicting, I use my name as guidance and ask myself how an emperor would handle the problem. My parents began shaping who I was going to become since I was born because my personality fits so perfectly with my name and it truly embodies who I am.

Works Cited

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Campbell, M. (2018). Behind the Name: Meaning of Surnames. [online] Surnames.behindthename.com. Available at: http://surnames.behindthename.com [Accessed 14 Sep. 2018].

Gerhards, Jurgen. The name game: Cultural modernization and first names. Routledge, 2017.

Alderman, Derek H. "Place, naming and the interpretation of cultural landscapes." Heritage and Identity, edited by Brian Graham and Peter Howard (2016): 195-213.