Name
My parents were born in China and immigrated to the US before I was born. They gave me two names, one Chinese and one English. My Chinese name, 张楚玉, has three parts: 张 ( zhāng ) is my surname that I got from my dad. It is a very common surname, so much so that when I was a kid, I would hear about other people with the name 张 from the news and listening to my parents’ conversations and think, “They have the same name as me, so they must be family!” My given name, or “first” name, is 楚玉 and was chosen by my mom. 玉 ( yù ) is a generational name that I share with my brother. 楚 ( chǔ ) comes from my mom’s birthplace. She was born and raised in Hubei, a province in central China. During the Zhou dynasty, that region was part of the Chu state (楚国 in Chinese), and the 楚 in 楚国 became part of my name. It feels pretty cool to be named after an ancient Chinese state, but I also like that my name strengthens my connection with my mom, as I’m literally named after her home. My full English name is C...