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The NAME Game

By Anaya Barmecha, Kylee Nguyen, Amanda Satterfield, Youmna Sukkar, Lydia Sun

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Table of Contents

Introduction: What’s in a Name?

01

Methods

02

Our Participants

03

Findings and Analysis

04

05

Discussion and Concluding Remarks

Demographic illustration

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Four main areas of interests

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What’s in a Name?

A qualitative experimental approach to:

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  • Underscore and further understand the variabilities behind names;
  • Learn the meanings behind one another’s and valuing the difference in each other's eccentric spellings.

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(We wonder the same thing too).

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Research Questions

  • How do the participants from varied cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds perceive their name in relation to their identity?

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  • What cross-cultural similarities or differences do participants share in regards to their beliefs and perspectives?

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02

Methods

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  • Sample Selection: International college students residing in America or individuals with eclectic, multicultural name-experiences
  • Basic Introductions
  • Name Origins
  • Interpretations and Implications
  • Pronunciations and Mispronunciations

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Our Participants

03

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Our Interviewees Are From…

Countries Covered

7

Foreign Interviewees

7

Total numbers of Interviewees

9

China

2

The United Kingdom

1

Switzerland

1

The United States

1

Dominican Republic

1

Singapore

1

Vietnam

2

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From Asia: China, Vietnam, & Singapore

Name: Thu Nguyen

Preferred Name: Caitlin Nguyen

Countries Lived in: Vietnam, The U.S.

Name: Viet Tran

Preferred Name: Viet Tran

Countries Lived in: Vietnam, The U.S.

Name: Xin Yin

Preferred Name: Valerie Yin

Countries Lived in: China, The U.S.

Name: Xuanyi Zhang

Preferred Name: Xuanyi Zhang

Countries Lived in: China, The U.S.

Name: Liruoheng Zhang

Preferred Name: Wendy Zhang

Countries Lived in: China,

Singapore, The U.S.

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From UK, US, Switzerland, &DR

Name: Maysarah Sukkar

Preferred Name: Miso Sukkar

Countries Lived in: The United Kingdom, The U.S.

Name: Nicolette Salmi

Preferred Name: Nicolette Salmi

Countries Lived in: The United Kingdom, The Bahamas, Switzerland, The U.S.

Name: Angenie

Pang

Preferred Name: Angenie Pang

Countries Lived in: The U.S.

Name: Smiling

Jose Santiago

Preferred Name: Smiling Santiago

Countries Lived in: Dominican Republic

The U.S.

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04

Findings and Analysis

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Personal Relationship with One’s Name

  • Harmony: Growing fond of coerced name
  • Struggle and crisis: connection between names and cultural identity
  • Alteration of name: the reinterpretation of “self”

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Gendered Names

  • Last name traditions in cultures and relationship dynamics
  • Slice of ancestry from standardized naming practice
  • Motivation & Recognition of self-worth

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Isolationism

  • Dissonance from one’s society
  • The “ignore it” attitude of minorities/foreigners
  • Mispronunciation and institutional barriers

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Cultural Assimilation

  • Reassess one’s identity
  • The practice of adopting Anglo names
  • Beyond a matter of identification: personality shaper and behavioral motivator

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Limitation and Further Directions

  • Limited small sample
  • Familiarity of selected participants
  • Diversify the narratives: Other professions? Professors and baristas?

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Concluding Remarks

  • Varied cultures and upbringings connected through the American soil
  • Names bear different burdens and/or tying identity & stories together

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  • “Seeing each story as a true journey without assumption”
  • Names are omnipresent and inescapable
  • Celebrate our cross-cultural differences
  • A story always worth telling

Our Spirits of Wonder

NAMES &SOW

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THANK YOU!