What is your Chinese name?

赵 玥淇 Zhao Yueqi

What does your name mean?

玥 (yue) means bright pearl or night pearl. According to my birthday horoscope, I am short of water in five elements and need a word of water in my name to balance the fire element, 淇 (qi) comes from 淇水(qi) water, a place of cultural celebrity in ancient times.

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

Roxie

Who gave you your English name?

Myself, it is from the character Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago, I don’t like Roxie Hart that much but I think her ambition and shrewd plan is worth learning from me. It’s also quite a special name that doesn’t always clash with others.

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

No, but many people said Roxie and Yueqi sounds similar.

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

Yes, in high school named myself Hermione since I am obsessed with Harry Potter so much at that time. I changed this name in college because I realized I wasn’t smart at all and many people actually laughed when they called me by this name.

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

I don’t have any negative experience with my Chinese name, but I really don’t like it, I think it is very boring, and it doesn’t sound good, I really resist people calling me by my Chinese name, I think it’s a kind of native language shame, and I think it has something to do with the tone as well, my name doesn’t quite fit the rhyme scheme.

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

I don’t really care what people call me, and neither name gives me a strong identity, but if I had to say it, I think I like the pinyin of my Chinese name, I prefer to be called by called yueqi, pronounced yuki, now people usually call me yuki or Roxie.