What is your Chinese name?

姜 孟大 Jiang Mengda

What does your name mean?

姜 (jiang) is my father’s last name, 孟 (meng) is my mother’s last name, and 大 (da) is the word for our generation, for example, my cousin’s name is 姜鹏大 (Jiang Pengda).

What is your English name? (Please write in pinyin if you don’t have one)

Eda

Who gave you your English name?

Myself

Is there a pronunciation/meaning connection between your English name and Chinese name?

Both my Chinese name and English name ended with “da”. In high school physics class, I learned a mechanical efficiency formula symbol η, I really liked this symbol. It is pronounced íta, and based on this symbol I came up with my first English name Ite, which gradually evolved into Eda. Later, I looked it up in the foreign name dictionary, and it seems to be a real name, a Spanish name.

Have you ever abandoned your English name? What was the reason?

I stopped using my English name after I came to the United States to study except for places like Uber and Starbucks where I needed an easy-to-read name. One is to reduce unnecessary trouble and explanation since Mengda is my legal name. Also because Mengda is not that hard to pronounce after all. I don’t want to change a part of myself for the convenience of others, especially since I am a choral conducting major, in which diction is a basic skill. My Chinese name contains so much about my cultural identity, I love my name.

Does your name ever give you any funny, embarrassing, or uncomfortable experiences?

I accidentally used my Chinese name when I signed up for membership at Panera (a restaurant), and every time the name shown on the ticket was M. Jiang, the guy really tried hard to pronounce it, but still, I get my meal totally based on my intelligence of guessing. Sometimes I also question if Eda is a true Spanish name since I have met Spanish speakers ask what my name means, but there are also Spanish Lyft drivers saying he has friends with that name. In the place where I study and work, using Mengda is never a problem, everyone tried so hard to learn how to pronounce it in the right way, even if I say it doesn’t matter. Of course, I think there are students who don’t talk to me to avoid calling me by my name lol.

Do you prefer your Chinese name or your English name? Which name better represents your own identity?

I prefer the Chinese name 100%, the Chinese name is more representative of my identity