A thread about keeping a foreign name in America: I'm not crazy about my name, Kyung. It's a pain in the a** & I have to spell it repeatedly... daily. FYI, it's pronounced 'Young with a K', not Kee-Young, not Kwang, not Koong, though I will answer to anything close (more)
My father, who dropped his Korean name for "John" as a Chicago shopkeeper, urged me in the 2nd grade to change my name as we registered for school. We argued over the name "Lucy" because I loved the Peanuts. But I couldn't fathom being called something different so I refused.
I regretted it. This jerk in the 5th grade called me Egg Foo Young for the entire year. I still bring it up!
You can imagine what fun it is being named "Kyung" and joining a small market TV station. I imagined changing my name to "Lucy."
Nah.
At @CNN, I cannot tell you the number of calls my various producers have gotten over the years-- inquiries from CNNI to many CNN anchors who have diligently asked, "How do you pronounce her name?" It is a decision on their part to say it correctly.
One @CNN anchor explained it to me this way when I first started at the network-- "We share the same air space. Let's get it right."
It's a decision to say someone's name correctly, even if that person is used to the mangling. Believe me, we're used to it. For the Andersons, Johns, Erins, Poppys (among many) who have decided to say my name correctly, thank you. It's a decision. Plain and simple.
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