How I got my surname

Two American-born Chinese tell us why their surnames are spelled the way they are.

Alan Chin

My family came from Toishan. We use Toishanese as a basis for transliteration.

That is why we are “Chin” – this is closer in pronunciation than Cantonese “Chan” or Mandarin “Chen.” My brother, who was raised in Hong Kong, chose “Chan” for himself. Or you could say he followed the standards set by the British colonial government.

Kimberly Chua

My grandfather grew up in the village of Fujian, where it would have been pronounced as “Chua” based on the local Fujian dialect. In Mandarin, it would have been pronounced as “Cai,” in Cantonese “Choi” or “Choy.”

Grandfather later migrated to the Philippines, where the name is very commonly spelled and pronounced “Chua.” So he went with Chua and when the family came to America, we kept the last name.

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