My Chinese name is 邓伟 （Deng Wei）

Most foreigners here in China have a Chinese name. It makes sense because it is very difficult for people to remember your English name. I spent a lot of time and consulted with several friends to pick a good Chinese name for myself. I didn't want to be stuck with a stupid name that some clerk assigned to me during the visa application process. What is in my visa application is probably my official Chinese name. But I don’t like that one so I will have to change it the next time I apply for visa.

A natural choice was Da Wei because it sounds like David. But there were a couple of problems with that name. When you add a last name to it and put the last name first then it does not sound like David anymore. In China last name is always put first. In Mao Ze Dong case, for example, Mao is last name and Ze Dong is his first name.

If your name is just 2 syllabus or easy to pronounce then everyone will always call you by your full name: last name plus first name. If your name is too long then your parents will abbreviate it somehow and call something different than your full name.

I also need a last name. Du, Deng are good because they start with D and loosely sound like Dehghan. Du does not have a particularly good meaning. It means stomach. Deng as far as I know does not have any meaning but it is the same name as 邓小平 (Deng Xiao Ping). Deng Xiao Ping is probably the most important person in modern Chinese history. He was the premiere that set China on the course of change from Communism to Communism with Chinese Characteristics (ie market economy).

After some thought I just dropped the Da from Deng Da Wei and was left with just Deng Wei. Da Wei is not really a Chinese name, so if I am making a lot of compromises to get a Chinese name I might as well go full out and get an authentic Chinese name.

So here I am, Deng Wei.

Now let’s practice:
I am Deng Wei. Wo shi deng wei. 我是邓伟。
My name is Deng Wei. Wo de ming zi shi Deng Wei. 我的名字是邓伟。