1 - The culture of names

My name is Paul Christopher Smith. Often people shorten the name of someone to make a nickname. My friends usually call me “Smithy” or “Pauly”. These are my nicknames.

In casual situations, it is normal for people to use nicknames. Everyone has a name. My name doesn’t seem very special but it is. You probably don’t know why I’m called Paul Christopher Smith or what these names mean. I will tell you.

My first name, “Paul”, comes from a very old Latin word. It means humble. Many Western names come from Latin words or ancient Greek ones.

My middle name “Christopher” comes from the ancient Greek words christos (Christ) and phero (I carry). So it means “I carry Christ” or “I carry Christ’s ways.”

Many Western names also have Christian meanings. My parents wanted me to become a good person. That is why they gave me these names.

My mother’s father’s middle name is also “Paul”. This is another reason they gave me the name “Paul”. Many Western families use the names of their ancestors for their own children.

My family name “Smith” is the most common surname in the West. It comes from the word “smite” which means “hit”.

A blacksmith, sometimes called a smith, was someone who struck metal. This was a common job hundreds of years ago and so “Smith” became a common name because that was their job. It is a common name but I like it because it is simple.

My name is Meixiu Li. I am from China. In China, we use special characters to write. These Chinese characters each have a meaning.

My given name has two characters. The first character means beautiful and the second one means grace.

I’m glad my parents gave me this name. They chose it after I was born. They saw me and thought I was beautiful and graceful.

My surname is a very typical family name in China. In fact, it is the most common name in China and the world!

The Chinese character for Li means “plum.” People in Korea also use this character in surnames there. It is the second most common surname in Korea.

My family name is one of the oldest names in the world too. Its history goes back more than 4000 years. I’m very proud of my family name.

In China we don’t have middle names. Also, when people call you, they call your family name first and not your given name.

Many Chinese people think the family is very important — more important than the individual. Some Chinese people use a Western name when they interact a lot with Western people because Western people sometimes find it difficult to say Chinese names.