Question on Asian names

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Doing some digging for visual inspiration for characters, I found Chinese model Dong Lei who is extraordinarily tall. The name apparently means 'winter' and is more associated with males.

Now we all know that 'dong' has a different slang meaning in English I was thinking of playing on that.

How common is Dong for a first name for Asian females?

Would using it in a joking way compared to the slang term be insensitive?

'Poor Dong had no idea what her parents set her up for in America.'

 

[FrancesScott]

Isn’t Dong her family name? Maybe have it wrong, but I thought Chinese names went: [Family] [Given]. So Lei would be her given name.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

That's part of what I don't understand either and searches haven't really clarified.

 

[TheLobster]

That's part of what I don't understand either and searches haven't really clarified.

It tends to be doubly confusing because, while it's true that Asian names (Korean, Chinese, etc.) front the surname, the Western convention is sometimes applied to them when they are mentioned in English media and thus they're getting effectively reversed.

And then of course you have Asian immigrants in Western nations, who have to go by [First][Last] in any official situation and on documents.

Anyway, in this case it appears that Dong Lei preserves the original Asian order, i.e., Dong is the family name and Lei is the given name, so your conceit won't work.

 

[FrancesScott]

In Chinese, it’s [family] [generation] [given]. When rendered in English, the generation and given name are sometimes combined, or the generation one dropped. And the order is sometimes reversed. But I’m pretty sure Dong is a family name and Lei a given one in this instance.

 

[Writer61]

That's part of what I don't understand either and searches haven't really clarified.

Family names go first in Chinese culture.

What Dong means depends upon the actual character rather than the transliteration. 东 (Dōng in pinyin) means east, which is associated with winter because the word for that is 冬季 (Dōngjì).

I remember asking why I was served "winter melon soup" in the middle of summer. The explanation was that the melon came from the east of the country.

 

[Nynah]

Now we all know that 'dong' has a different slang meaning in English I was thinking of playing on that.

You probably shouldn't be trying to poke fun at a person's name just because it means something funny in English. It's pretty rude.

 

[crookedletter]

Would using it in a joking way compared to the slang term be insensitive?

I would lean toward yes. If such things concern you you could always try giving the joke to a character who maybe gets sufficiently chastised for it. But if it were me I'd probably just refrain entirely.

 

[Writer61]

You probably shouldn't be trying to poke fun at a person's name just because it means something funny in English. It's pretty rude.

I wouldn't. But FWIW the name my Chinese colleagues gave me is a bit of a joke on me.

 

[FrancesScott]

Take 章子怡. What you can’t read that? It says Zhang Ziyi as in Jen in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Zhang is definitely a family name; her father is Zhang Yuanxiao.

But, in Western media, she sometimes appears as Ziyi Zhang. So it’s kinda confusing.

 

[Writer61]

Take 章子怡. What you can’t read that? It says Zhang Ziyi as in Jen in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Zhang is definitely a family name; her father is Zhang Yuanxiao.

But, in Western media, she sometimes appears as Ziyi Zhang. So it’s kinda confusing.

It is, but the norm is that family names are a single character, while most given names have two. So, you can see that Ziyi is her given name. Some western media make it more obvious by hyphenating the given names, so Zi-Yi in this case.

 

[Bamagan]

I can rarely resist a naming pun. That does often mean 'importing' something from another language, which English is pretty (in)famous for anyway. I usually try to avoid making it a clear cultural thing, though, often by mixing and matching names from different sources. Anita Wang, for example, who is of mixed descent... and no one in the story acts like it's a joke (for her or her partner, Harry Balzac).
In your case, I'd probably do something like double-down and name the character Dong Johnson, perhaps because her mother promised to name her first-born after the doctor that saved her life or somesuch.

Doing some digging for visual inspiration for characters, I found Chinese model Dong Lei who is extraordinarily tall. The name apparently means 'winter' and is more associated with males.

Now we all know that 'dong' has a different slang meaning in English I was thinking of playing on that.

How common is Dong for a first name for Asian females?

Would using it in a joking way compared to the slang term be insensitive?

'Poor Dong had no idea what her parents set her up for in America.'

 

[Writer61]

I can rarely resist a naming pun.

I rarely give my characters a family name; if I do, it is often as a pun.

I usually try to avoid making it a clear cultural thing,

Me too, I have a couple of foreign names coming up, but I try to keep them as puns within the language.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

The gig would be a sort of mean girls group, but nice mean girls, not mean mean girls. Light hearted Heathers sort of.

She gets picked on for her name but joins the group to seek 'revenge' in their own silly, tempting, teasing and often naked ways, making the guys wish they had a chance with her.

 

[Writer61]

I suggest researching Chinese girls' names to find something that suits their character and sounds good in English. As families try hard not to repeat given names, they sometimes get creative, which can lead to some that sound a bit strange when translated. For example, one of my colleagues was called "Little One".

 

[Actingup]

You probably shouldn't be trying to poke fun at a person's name just because it means something funny in English. It's pretty rude.

The gig would be a sort of mean girls group, but nice mean girls, not mean mean girls. Light hearted Heathers sort of.

She gets picked on for her name but joins the group to seek 'revenge' in their own silly, tempting, teasing and often naked ways, making the guys wish they had a chance with her.

I think that this is okay in that context, just as long as you're clear in your head that you're writing about a situation that happens frequently in real life (immigrant rolls her eyes internally but plays along with the ignorant locals for the sake of getting along), and not making the joke as the author. The reader needs to be on her side. But you also need to very clear on the specific cultural context - I was worried when you said 'Asian' in the subject line - 60% of the world's population live in Asia.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Would using it in a joking way compared to the slang term be insensitive?

I've observed over the years that when anyone asks a question like this, they already know the answer, but for some reason needs a quorum. It's a tad tasteless, and unless you're about fourteen, not particularly funny.

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

Doing some digging for visual inspiration for characters, I found Chinese model Dong Lei who is extraordinarily tall. The name apparently means 'winter' and is more associated with males.

Now we all know that 'dong' has a different slang meaning in English I was thinking of playing on that.

How common is Dong for a first name for Asian females?

Would using it in a joking way compared to the slang term be insensitive?

'Poor Dong had no idea what her parents set her up for in America.'

There are many different meanings to the word “Dong” in Chinese, depending on intonation and/or context.

Dong, as in the “east” dōng 东 or “winter” dōng 冬 is not pronounced exactly the same way as the English vernacular sexual organ dong.

It can be a last name, and can also be a given name. Lei is also a common family name that can also be used as a given name (and there are many different characters and meanings for Lei as well). Donglei itself can be a given name btw (Li Donglei).

Looking up the model Dong Lei, Dong is in fact her family name, and Lei is her given name. However, her Dong is neither ‘east’ dōng 东 or “winter” dōng 冬. Her name appears to be 董蕾 or dǒng lěi, which does not mean what you think it means. In any case Dong is a very common Chinese surname which can also be a given name.

Hope that’s as clear as mud lol

I would consider the joke to be insensitive, but of course its a part of reality of Asian immigrants to English-speaking countries. She would have certainly encountered that in her childhood ( I can personally attest to that… kids are mean). Feel free to write about that experience… I’d ask you to try to do it tastefully

By the way, don’t take my answers at face value. I’m not fluent in Mandarin. I was forced to learn chinese characters at a young age and, with enthusiasm, forgot much of it lol

 

[Writer61]

There are many different meanings to the word “Dong” in Chinese, depending on intonation and/or context.

Dong, as in the “east” dōng 东 or “winter” dōng 冬 is not pronounced exactly the same way as the English vernacular sexual organ dong.

Thanks for clarifying that.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Hope that’s as clear as mud lol

Uh, yeah. Sure.


I haven't decided yet. The lady has me intrigued, but I'm not sure how, or if I'll make any references. 45 inch legs have to make it into a Lit story somehow.

 

[calmlikeabomb]

Dong is a family name and decently common.

 

[Voboy]

I did a story once where an Asian had been picked on for several years and finally got her revenge on the "mean girl" who'd been a major culprit. It was not well-received. In general, any character who'd mock an Asian name is probably an asshole (you set it up that way because it IS insensitive), and in a lot of cases, people don't like reading about assholes.

Trouble is, they're fun to write.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Again, if I go there at all, it will be a group of girls who notice that she's being picked on. They welcome her into their little group of enticing vixens and help her get the upper hand.

Though it may be mentioned in passing, my characters won't do it. They'll be seeking to help her get power over those that did by making them drool and wish they'd treated her better.

 

[FrancesScott]

Where I’ve included East Asian characters in stories - and I try to reflect the range of humanity where I can, without being culturally insensitive - I’ve used variants of names of people I know, so I’m basing how they are styled in my work on what actual people of that ethnicity have told me is correct.

 

[TheLobster]

I find it deeply uncomfortable, even disturbing, how quickly this thread is sliding into virtuous preening and grandstanding about "cultural insensitivity" and similar concepts from the dodgy neighborhood of self-censorship through peer pressure.

Ignore all that noise, OP. Write characters that you want to write, whether or not the 'sensitivity readers' would consider them objectionable. Heck, write blatant racists if you wish to do so; there are few things more compelling in a story than believable villains.