It has to be one on the most frustrating things in the world when someone mispronounces your name, or worse doesn't care to learn it and gives you a "nickname" to make up for it. This is something that happens all too often to children who immigrant to the United States and find themselves in American school. The "native-born" students have a hard time with pronunciation of the names of their new classmates and either butcher them, or unfortunately use this as ammunition for picking on the new kids. This can happen as a way for the American student(s) to hide their embarrassment/incompetence and to shift the focus on the new kid. In Yangsook Choi's book The Name Jar, young Unhei has just come to America from Korea, and she is excited for her first day at her new school. While still on the bus, she reflect of the last time she spoke with her grandmother who is still in Korea. Her grandmother gave her an ink pad and red satin pouch with a block of wood with Unhei's name carved into it. Unhei's grandmother tells her "Your name is inside".
Unhei's reflections are interrupted by some kids on the bus that begin talking to her and asking her name. When Unhei tells them, they immediately start trying and failing to say it correctly (OON-HAY). Unhei tries and tries to correct them, but is no use. she is left embarrassed and worried that this will be the same reaction that she will receive from now on. Once Unhei finally gets to her classroom, she tells the class that she hasn't picked a name yet. This confuses everyone in the room. That night, Unhei and her mother discuss Unhei wanting to change her name to sound more American. The mother is understandably taken aback and she tells Unhei that she and Unhei's grandmother went specifically to a name master to choose her name. Her mother also tells her, "It is good to be different" even though that bit of advice falls on deaf ears (as does most parental advice).
As she is trying out various names for herself, Unhei and her mother go to a Korean grocery in her neighborhood. Here she meets Mr. Kim and she tells him her Korean name. He immediately reminds her that her name means grace. The following day at school, Unhei finds a jar filled with tiny pieces of paper on her deck. The pieces of paper have names on them that the other students wrote to help Unhei choose a name. Unhei mulls this over while she and later talks a boy at her school named Joey. He asks what her name is and she shows him her name stamp. She tells him that her grandmother gave it to her and that she fills a paper with its image every time Unhei misses her. They quickly become friends. A letter comes from Unhei's grandmother that evening and in the letter she writes telling Unhei how much she misses her and to be helpful to her mother. She ends her letter with, "You'll always be my Unhei." A couple of days later, Unhei meets Joey at Mr. Kim's grocery store. She is confused to see him there but quickly dismisses it. At school on the following Monday, Unhei finds that her name jar is gone. Everyone in the class is baffled as to where it has gone. This is the moment that Unhei decides to share the name she chose with the class. She writes both the English and Korean translations of her name. She tells the class the meaning of her name and coaches her classmates and teacher until everyone is able to pronounce it correctly, "I liked my name best, so I chose it again!"
At the end of class, Unhei tries to find Joey, but he is already gone. Later that evening, Joey came to Unhei's house to give her back the name jar. He explains that he wanted to take it, so she would keep her own name. He also tells her that he had Mr. Kim help him come up with his own Korean nickname and name stamp. When he shows her the stamp she sees that his name is Chingu (which means friend).
Discussion and Classroom Application
In today's society its nothing new to see someone changing their name in order to fit in to a certain group. We see it everyday with celebrities from all platforms. Here are a few well-known celebs who have made the switch
- Nina Dobrev (Vampire Diaries)- Nikolina Konstantinova Dobreva
- Natalie Portman (Star Wars, Thor, Where the Heart Is)- Neta-Lee Hershlag
- Brie Larson (Captain Marvel)- Brianne Sidonie Desauliniers
- Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project, Velma)- Vera Mindy Chokalingam
- Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad)- Aaron Sturtevant
- Charlie Sheen (Two and a Half Men)- Carlos Irwin Estevez
- Ben Kingsly (Schindler's List, Gandhi, Ender's Game)- Krishna Bhanji
As you can see, the original names of these amazing actors were not simply exchanged for a stage name. These were culturally diverse names that each person felt they needed to change to seem more "English", or because they got tired of constantly having to correct pronunciations of their name. This is exactly what we saw in The Name Jar. This anglicization of names is very common, almost to the point where it is expected for anyone who comes to America to adopt an American name. There is a sense of urgency for immigrants to immerse themselves in American culture as a way to prove not only to everyone else, but to themselves that they are now truly "American. In From Hasan to Herbert: Name‐Giving Patterns of Immigrant Parents between Acculturation and Ethnic Maintenance, we see that the first and most prominent way people accomplish the adoption of a new culture comes in the way they name their children, "Names often indicate belonging to a certain ethnic group. When
immigrant parents choose a first name for their child that is common
in their host society, they show a high degree of acculturation" (Gerhards & Hans, 2009). However, Unhei decides for herself that she will retain her cultural identity by keeping her Korean name given to her by her Korean parents. She can thrive as a Korean American girl who is fully aware of the promise of her future through the connection to her past.
In the classroom, this book is an excellent tool for teaching cultural significance. In English/ELA, this would serve as a gateway to discussions from all students on who they are and from where their lineage begins. As an educator, I would love to see this book spark an interest in my students to find books that highlight cultures that are relevant not only to Unhei's culture, but to others in the community. By listening to the voices of someone from a perspective different from your own, you truly learn to see the world as a whole. Apart from, or rather, in addition to teaching this book in the English class, this could also be a great book to bring in during Social Studies to show just how hard it must be for someone of a different culture, country, and language to come to America and be forced to confront the dilemma of whether or not to keep the only identity they have ever known. This would initiate conversations that foster empathy, patience, and compassion for immigrant children and adults.
Gerhards, J., & Hans, S. (2009). From Hasan to Herbert: Name‐Giving Patterns of Immigrant Parents between Acculturation and Ethnic Maintenance. American Journal of Sociology, 114(4), 1102–1128. https://doi.org/10.1086/595944
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