posted by yuval on November 18, 2011 | 2 comments
Hi everyone,I would am considering changing my last name from "Cohen" to "Qen". I played an association game with some friends and they told me it sounds Chinese.I have two questions for discussion:1. Does it sound Chinese?2. And I am asking openly here, do you find a Chinese sounding name to be door opening or vice versa in the USA?Many thanks,Yuval Cohen
@yuval,1. There's no Qen although there is Qin (秦), which is one of the top 100 family names and perfectly fine as a surname. Probably wise to avoid anything that sounds like Cohen because of the similarity to 可恨 ("hateful").2. Just from personal experience, speaking Chinese is what opens doors - a name doesn't do much. So having a good name isn't an impediment, but it doesn't help unless it is particularly good, in which case people are a bit more likely to remember it.
@Yuval,I think the closest legitimate Chinese surname to Cohen is Chen 陈。Anyone who has studied Chinese for a while, (or who is Chinese) would spot it immediately as not being Chinese.Like Orbital said, mastery of the Chinese language, or at very least some ability in it is what would open doors for you with overseas Chinese.Although I've run into some self loathing Chinese in the states who would honestly rather you not have the slightest bit if interest in China or the Chinese and just be as Anerican as possible.