(no subject)

[http://users.livejournal.com/hajari_/]

I know a guy who was called Suna Mohammed. (pn SUN-nuh) I suppose mostly because of the negative connotations of being Arabic, he legally changed it to Wesley. (Not sure what he changed his surname to)

So, what do you think of Suna? What about Wesley?

I quite like Suna, and I hate Wesley. I think it's sad that people feel ashamed of their heritage and change their names to fit in.

Comments

[barelyshocking.livejournal.com]

It's likely that he isn't ashamed of his heritage, but is saving himself from the prejudices of ignorant people in his community. I wonder if he expects his family to call him Wesley too, or his close friends?

I prefer Suna to Wesley :D

[christhiane.livejournal.com]

Suna sounds nice.

[politicking.livejournal.com]

my mother knows a lot of Muslim people who have changed their names... most of them are in business, & their Americanized names are way easier to pronounce/spell/etc. than their Arabic names.

for instance, her friend's husband is Haroon, he goes by Aron (prn like Aaron) when he is working or doing business with the store he owns. otherwise, people know him as Haroon. the people from the mosque, friends, neighbors, all call him by his real name... only people he does business with call him Aron.

his brother, though, was in some trouble before he came over here, so he changed his entire name from something like Sayid lastname to Jamie McGowan haha. from what she understood, from talking to them, that also happens quite a bit... someone may have gotten in trouble under their real name before they came over, or even here in the US, & they change it to avoid that.

[thephoeb.livejournal.com]

I think Suna is a really cool name. It's not like it's hard to pronounce, so he probably changed it because he was ashamed.
Like the person above said, I think it's common among Arabs to change their names or go by different names in the US. I work in a Middle Eastern restaurant, and the owner is from Lebanon. His name is Wahib, his family and other Arabic people call him Wahib. Americans call him Frank, I have no idea where it came from. But that is how he introduces himself to Americans. I think it's kind of odd personally, he isn't trying to hide his nationality obviously since he owns a Middle Eastern restaurant. I don't think it would be too much to ask of Americans to accommodate his Arabic name.

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

That's a bit odd. I mean, you can change your name, but if you look Arabic, you look Arabic. I think it's a shame that he felt he had to change his name because of the prejudices of others. That's pretty telling about the society we live in today.

The mayor of my city is Arab, but his family immigrated like three generations ago, back when it was really common for immigrants to take on English names, so his name is Eddie Francis, haha.

[rockstargrrrlie.livejournal.com]

I like Wesley. I'm not particularly fond of Suna, but I think that's sad that he had to change his name completely. There are plenty of Arabic (and Muslim) names that are easy to spell and pronounce and don't necessarily pigeon-hole you into the prejudices that come with that label. Then again, I think it's sad he had to change his name in the first place.

[http://users.livejournal.com/hajari_/]

Hmm well his (now ex-) girlfriend picked the name, and she mostly refers to him as Suna, sometimes she corrects herself and calls him Wesley. The name change was a year ago. So I imagine he still goes by Suna with his family.