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Question

October 17th, 2005

Simply out of curiosity, why are half of all Chinese-American women named “Michelle,” and most of the other half named “Catherine”? Just wondering, having noticed.

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  1. ykw
    October 17th, 2005 at 11:33 | #1
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    I have not noticed this.

  2. Paul
    October 17th, 2005 at 17:27 | #2
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    LOL It sounds like selective perception working away, but there are definitely trends in names, both in culture in general and then in sub-populations of ethnic groups.

    What amazes me in some cultures is the number of people who share a given family name. In China, it’s “Lee” (or “Li” or “Liung” or several other variations, all of which are essentially spelling differences of the same basic family name). In Vietnam, it’s “Nguyen” (which is, surprise surprise, my girlfriend’s family name).

    Paul

  3. ReyLynda
    October 19th, 2005 at 00:16 | #3
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    Thank heavens it’s not Brittany.

  4. Luis
    October 19th, 2005 at 01:27 | #4
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    The only thing I can figure is that the name jibes with something in Chinese–e.g., “Mi-shir” for “Michelle” or something like that. Here’s an interesting idea: find out how many of the Michelles and Catherines come from Mandarin and Cantonese-speaking families. Betcha there’s a correspondence.

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