When to Ditch Your Given Name

Nearly 80 percent of resumes are misleading, according to research from the Society of Human Resource Managers.

Though most falsifications result from nonexistent degrees and inflated salary histories, some manipulation comes from name alterations.

Minorities, women and immigrants with ethnic-sounding names often feel compelled to take on American variations, or nicknames, to avoid discriminatory filtering.

Wai Yan Cheung moved to Brookline, Mass from Hong Kong when she was six years old.

Her parents knew Wai Yan, a name that means “I’m always happy” in Chinese, would be difficult and, at times, uncomfortable for people to pronounce. So, they “nicknamed” her Vienne.

Vienne admits, “Before launching my own fashion brand, Vienne Milano, I worked in product management. I went by Vienne and always used that on job applications.”

“I felt if I used my real name it would be glossed over and not reviewed as quickly,” she tells Little PINK Book.

What happened when colleagues in corporate America discovered her real name?

“People don’t know how to approach a first name with space in the middle, ” Vienne says. “They would become hesitant.”

Hope Oriabure-King, an Account Executive at the Dallas Morning News, also knows the power of a name all too well.

Born and raised in Texas, but of Nigerian descent, she kept her ex-husband’s surname to avoid name discrimination.

“People don’t return calls to people who have last names they don’t know how to pronounce,” says King.

“It doesn’t help that Nigeria has a bad reputation in the business world,” she adds.

For years Wai Yan has contemplated legally changing her name to Vienne.

“I am hesitant because Wai Yan is my real name, and it’s a part of my identity that I would have to give up,” she says.

“At home, my family just calls me Yan and Wai Yan, and there’s something special about it being something only close friends and family call me.”

Bonus PINK Link: How to Fit in Without Blending In

Have you altered your name to avoid discrimination?

By L. Nicole Williams

Nicole is the Editor at Little PINK Book. Follow her on Twitter @williamsnicolel.

“Whatever is bringing you down, get rid of it. Because you’ll find that when you’re free your true self comes out.” Katherine Hepburn