help for parents
Young Brit chooses names for Chinese babies — and makes good money doing it
Many Chinese are looking for Western names for their babies
© chee gin tan / Getty Images
Chinese parents are keen to give their children English names to open doors for them in the West. A British teenager turned it into a thriving business.
China is very likely to be the superpower of the future – if the Middle Kingdom has not already assumed this role. Due to ongoing globalization, China is becoming the key economic market for European and American companies. In return, many Chinese also want to benefit from the opportunities in the West. However, they often lack a suitable name for this.
That’s where Beau Jessup comes in. Jessup is 20 years old and founded Special Name. She has discovered a gap in the market: the young Englishwoman recommends suitable English names for their babies to Chinese parents. She earns good money with it – so far more than 500,000 dollars. Enough to pay for college. In total, she chose the names for more than a million children from China.
Chinese look for English names for email addresses
Your service is in high demand for two reasons. On the one hand, many rich Chinese families would like to send their offspring to schools or universities in the West later on. There, the children should not attract attention with inappropriate names, as this can quickly lead to bullying. In the past, Chinese parents are said to have named their children Gandalf, Popcorn or Rambo – English-language terms that they picked up somewhere.
The second reason is more practical: an e-mail address requires a Western name, at least one that can be written in Latin letters. Due to the government’s censorship measures, the population has hardly any opportunities to find out about English-speaking names on the Internet. Still, many Chinese feel more confident communicating with English speakers if they go by a Western name themselves.
Especially the names of the royals are popular
A colleague of her father gave Beau Jessup the idea. When Jessup accompanied her father on a business trip to China, she asked what English name she should give her daughter. Jessup recommended Eliza, after the main character from the musical My Fair Lady. She was 16 at the time and had the idea of offering this service to many other Chinese via the Internet. First for free, then for a small fee. It has now become a thriving business.
An algorithm, similar to Google, does most of the work, explains Jessup. Users can select some character traits they want their child to have. On this basis, three suitable names are suggested, from which the parents can choose one. Jessup can speak Chinese, but thanks to the automated process and a few employees, he hardly has to worry about day-to-day business. The names of the British royals are particularly popular, she reveals: Katherine, Charlotte, Elizabeth or William.
Sources: CNBC / “news.com.au” / TED Talk by Beau Jessup