The Namesake

Over the weekend, I watched an episode of 24 for the first time ever. There was an interesting moment when Ahmed Amar (Kal Penn from Harold & Kumar) says to a friend, "You're my best friend, and you don't even know how to pronounce my name. It's not a-MED, it's ACH-med." What makes the line interesting, though, is that it reminded me about all the conversations I've had recently about the pronunciation of peoples' names. In the US, there seems to be a tendency to Anglicize foreign names. Wang is pronounced 'wang' instead of 'wong', which is closer to the original pronunciation. A name like Naruto is pronounced 'naRUto' instead of the original 'NAruto'. The trend can even be seen with Kal Penn because his birth name is Kalpen Modi, which indicates a preference for an Anglicized name. What makes a person's name, and what does that name and the pronunciation of said name reveal about the person?

A name is a word by which a person can be identified, and one is usually given to a child at birth. When these names are given by the parents, they are usually used to represent the parents' aspirations for the child. However, later in life the names also become an indication of a person's background and history. If a person's name changes, some people might lament this loss of history.

The thing is, as people grow and the people around them change, their names will probably change and may even become replaced with entirely new names. Christophers become Chrises, Roberts become Bobs, and Elizabeths become Bettys. Some people become known by their last name, and some people acquire a nickname. Not only that, but people can be known by different names depending on the people they are speaking with.

In the end, it really comes down to a matter of personal preference and comfort. For example, a person might be called one name by their family and close friends, but might find it very strange if an acquaintance called him by that name. There is a good book out there called The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri, which brings up this issue. In the case of 24, when a name like Ahmed is pronounced a-MED by a person, it shows that this person is comfortable with that pronunciation even if it is not what Ahmed prefers. If neither Ahmed nor his friend brings up the question of the preferred pronunciation, it shows that the discomfort of bringing up the issue is not worth the comfort of a correct pronunciation. In this case, maybe sometime down the line their friendship would reach a better comfort level and the correct pronunciation would come to be used.

I find that if there ever is a question about what name to use or how to pronounce that name, there is usually no harm in asking for clarification.