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A Chinese student’s podcast on her English name change reflects on Asian identity and the ways she’s reclaiming her culture
- In an award-winning podcast, Shanghai-born Aria Young questions why she abandoned her native Chinese name when she moved to the US
- It was a decision that has left her feeling confused, she says, and while she still goes by her English name, she wants to honour her cultural lineage
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When Aria Young was 16, she moved from her home city of Shanghai in China to the US state of Pennsylvania. The high school student’s new life involved a lot of changes, including a name change.
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“I was told that changing my Chinese name to an English one would make life easier,” says Young via Zoom from New York, where the now 21-year-old is a second-year student at New York University.
“It’s a common practice for Asian immigrants to choose an English name when they move to America,” she says. “Nobody ever questions it because people are just socialised to do it.”
Young didn’t question it either. “I was too excited about moving abroad to my new life, so I went through an agency that helped with my visa applications and they were like, ‘So you have to decide on an English name.’”
Young was born Yang Qinyue – Yang is her family name, and of her given name, the qin character means “to seep”, and the yue character symbolises happiness.
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