Something I find often charming and sometimes weird is the English names that Chinese people choose for themselves. I believe that they routinely choose their names as teenagers during English class. Some are pretty regular names, such as John or Emma. Some are what your great aunt and uncle might be called, Fanny, Bessie or Herbert. There are others that are very much in the spirit of celebrity baby names – things that are plain bonkers such as Ice. Then there’s a whole set that are actually lovely – I recently met a Monroe and thought it was great.
I was thinking that maybe I should choose a Chinese name. Maybe somethign like teapot or fire hydrant. Or maybe not.