Chan Yi Hui
In summary, "Yi Hui" is my given name and "Chan" is my family name.
“Chan”, as in Jackie Chan.
“Yi”, as in yee.
“Hui”, as in: way but add a ‘h’ in front. So that it’s hway.
OR whoo-eh if you say it fast enough.
Listen to the pronunciation here
(Credits to Lesley for the recording!)
History
1) What’s your full name officially?
Officially my full name is “Chan Yi Hui”.
I use “Yi-Hui Chan” or "Yihui Chan" most of the time, so I don’t have to explain much, i.e. the first name comes first in Western practice. Hyphen is there so that people understand that “Yi Hui” is my given name, not just "Yi".
No, I don’t need to give myself an English name to make it easier. ¯\_(ツ)__/¯
Context:
I'm Malaysian Chinese. A lot of Chinese people I know give themselves an English name. It's not their birth name but they do this to make it easier for others or maybe it sounds cooler. Either that, or they're Christian.
However, you don't often see the same from other Asian cultures. I want to embrace my name more instead of relying on another name.
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2) Why does your last name come first?
For people who aren’t familiar with most far east Asian names, surname/family/last name comes first, then only your first/given name.
“Chan” is my family name, then comes my given name “Yi Hui”.
It gets confusing here for some people.
“Yi” isn’t my ‘middle’ name, nor is “Hui” my first/given name.
“Yi Hui” is my full given name.
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3) Why isn’t it in one word? Why do you need to separate it into two words?
I don’t know, ask my ancestors.
It’s only two syllables, so it's easy to pronounce. If you can pronounce “Arnold Schwarzenegger”, you can easily pronounce "Yi Hui”.
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4) Does it only apply to Chinese names?
If I’m not mistaken, this format can be found used in most: Chinese, Taiwanese, Hongkongese (many Hong Kong people have English names now though), and Korean names.
Japanese names have a similar format, but I’m not going to go there here.
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5) Do you have a nickname (that is easier for me)?
You can call me "Chan" or "Hui", if you need to.
(╯ಠ‿ಠ)╯︵┻━┻
Pronunciation
In summary, "Yi Hui" is my given name and "Chan" is my family name.
“Chan”, as in Jackie Chan.
“Yi”, as in yee.
“Hui”, as in: way but add a ‘h’ in front. So that it’s hway.
OR whoo-eh if you say it fast enough.