I feel like, in exchange for a social life, and in exchange for an end to that awkwardness, I've also given away a part of my dignity. When other people call me by my nickname, it's almost like I put on a "face", or put up a wall that isn't the real me. It may seem trivial, or small and insignificant, but it's my name, you know? It's one of the very basic, fundamental things about myself, and I've sold it.

I'm angry, too. People just don't have the respect or patience enough to just take a moment and listen. And honestly, my name isn't even that hard to pronounce. They're just fucking illiterate, stupid, or don't care to make the extra effort. What really pisses me off is that my real name is the exact same number of syllables as my nickname (2).

But I am afraid- no, not afraid, terrified- that if I suddenly switch to my real name, if I demand respect and attention and dignity, that I'll just revert back to the way I used to be, and fade back into nothingness. Because honestly, I've been using my nickname as a social crutch. I am afraid that the friends and acquaintances I make won't stay around, because they won't have that "wow that's cool" factor to go along with meeting me. They'll just be confused about how to pronounce my name and overlook the person behind it. I've told myself that those who won't stop and give respect by learning my name aren't worth my time, but shit, I don't want to be alone.

What do I do /r9k/?

Pic related, it's a guy with a long, hard to pronounce name who also has a shortened nickname.

I'm really sorry about the tl;dr.

what's your nickname?

The real question is: what is your real name and nickname?

I think that you are worried too much. If people stop liking you because you choose to be known by your real name, those people weren't worth hanging around in the first place. What's your crazy-ass name anyway?

SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW!

Muteblocka

>>2624257
Chungyen

go ahead, guess how you say my name.

Chewie/Chewy/Chuey

>>2624225
Don't think you've given up your dignity. A name is nothing.

Do you name your cats? Do your cats know their names? If you called your cat, "Ugly shit" and beckoned it over, it would probably still come.

Names are only used to identify who you're talking to or about. They are nothing more than letters, and no different than numbers.

Relax man. you're fine.

choon-gee-en.
amidoinitrite?

>>2624295
Post it in pinyin please.

>>2624295
haha, Chewbacca!!!!!!!

>>2624319
see, that's the problem. people always fucking try to make it more complicated than it actually is.

Chungyen

ch as in choke
ung as in fungus
yen as in the money.

Well, since I moved from my home country when I was a baby to a different part of the word, I was stuck with a stupid ass second name.

It fucking sucked, and I don't have to tell you OP, but you're singled out as the kid with the strange name. It wasn't too bad as there were many foreign students at this school.

It was when I moved to Europe it all started to suck hard. Basically people are xenophobic hicks and if your second name doesn't have that national "touch", then you're a foreign invader.

I've lived with this for the last 20 years, and I still hate my second name, I asked my dad if can change it and he doesn't seem offended, just that it will be a fuck-ton of hassle. I was thinking, if I ever get married, I'll just take my wifes surname...

>>2624334
pinyin pronounciation is not the same as english/Americanized pronounciation.

zhang zhongyuan

>>2624295
Really?

Asked to be called Chuck or some shit. Or Charlie.

>>2624270
here.
>>2624342
I don't get your point. It doesn't seem that big a deal to me. However, I've never been in your position. >_<

>>2624342

are you fucking serious? maybe I've hung out with too many Taiwanese (my girlfriend's parents are immigrants, so that might be it) but your name is easy.

advice: stop hanging out with idiots.

OP, you gotta live with one or the other. As much as it sucks, people don't like hard to pronounce names cause they're afraid of getting it wrong and offending you, and they're especially going to hate it if you correct them all the time. The best situation would be keep your nick, but if your close friends ask your real name and want to use that, then that's cool. You don't need to give every one you meet a class on Chinese pronunciation. I know a lot of asian people and they go most of their day being called an English name.

>>2624342
That's the way I pronounced it, I assumed I must be doing it wrong since you said everyone has trouble with it and that's too easy. Maybe it's just America, I don't see how people can have problem with Chungyen.

If your nickname got you friends then stop complaining.

I'm in the same boat as OP, however i really like my name because no-one else has it. i think unusual names breed character.
See if you can guess how to pronouce
~ Anis

OP, I can relate very much. I was born in Korea and moved to America when I was 2. I'm a naturalized citizen, and I don't really see myself as "Korean" or "Asian," and having a foreign-sounding name took away from that.

Last summer, I changed my name legally to an American name. I feel much better about introducing myself to people now, and I am seen as less of an outsider. Sure, I still look different, but it's easier to integrate with more people now.

Do it. Legal name change. You won't regret it. You'll have to go through a tedious bureaucratic process that takes months, and will probably cost you a few hundred dollars, but it's probably the best thing I've spent my money on.

you should've carried a card all along. The problem people would have with chungyen is believing they heard it right.

Now that you made me think about it, people don't call me by my real name for six year. Except for my family of course.

The only problem with that is that everytime I met someone new and tell them my real name (which isn't ugly at all), they gradually starts to call me by the nickname after they hear someone else doing it. It is funny because on the first time they do it, they say it in a low voice because they aren't sure if it is ok, and is pretend to be offended is fun.

its liek;

'Hey *Name* how are you?'
'I am ok.'
'Well.... *nickname*... (look at me to see my reaction), what do you think about blabla'

Chungyen ? That's not fucking hard... people are retarded. What's your nickname though =3

Uhh...what's so hard about Chung-Yen. Or am I missing something here?

I think your problem is NOT with your name, but you feel INSECURE about your ethnicity. Think about it, everyone else has easy to pronounce English names, while you have a foreign name that makes you DIFFERENT. What you see as a hard pronounce name actually represents your self-conscious feeling about being isolated and lonely. You thought people didn't like you because of the name, but it could be because of other things, but you blame it on the name, and slowly, this name became your demon.

Yeah, OP, I had the exact same problem growing up. My parents anglicized my name in a way that made my name seem a lot more difficult to pronounce than it actually is. Instead of Yun-joon or Yun Joon they went with Yunjoon. Rhymes with Fun Poon. But I've always went by just Yun, which teachers would still butcher by pronouncing it "YOON". This always baffled me since any other word in English that began with a consonant and ended with an -un was pronounced with a short vowel sound, such as "sun", "fun", "run", etc.

I've thought of changing my name in the past but I decided that it would take too much from the identity I already have. Plus it would be awkward if I was in a situation where some people knew me by one name and others knew me by another.

chung yen?
Long Person?

bwhaha I kid, I kid, I speak cantonese.

Well you should slap your parents for giving you a name that sounds like a drawer full of silverware crashing to the floor.