During my first attempt at grad school, my fellow students (all mainland Chinese) informed me my name was "ugly" in Chinese. So, I chose 田十牛 "Tián Shí Niú", after the fact I'm a bit from the country, and my favorite character's name (Number 10 Ox). They thought this was hilariously rustic.

Do you use that name with actual Chinese people, or is it more of a during-Chinese-class thing?

I would feel weird about giving myself a rare and ultra-high-prestige name. But, I have no idea how the Chinese would perceive it.

I would probably assume he's just really into Romance of the Three Kingdoms or other historical dramas where the 司馬 surname is common. Or that his real name is Zimmerman.

> Or that his real name is Zimmerman.

I've read that a number of Chinese with the surname 欧阳 [Ouyang] logically chose the English surname O'Young, confusing a lot of people who were led by the name to expect someone more Irish.

I was a Chinese Mandarin linguist in the Army for five years, many, many years ago.

My teachers at DLI were really into historical dramas. I'm more into shows with lasers and robots.

>I would feel weird about giving myself a rare and ultra-high-prestige name.

Er... 司馬 isn't that rare, and people would rather advise you to select a rare but prestigious family name, rather than a rare and unknown one.

It's like given names in English: if you pick a rare and unknown name (or even a common one with an unusual spelling), people are just going to go "huh?"

i very much like how "martin" is translated into chinese:

马丁 not only captures the english sounds somewhat reasonably, but it also surprisingly captures the meaning in an interesting way: martin is based on mars, the god of war, and is also a famous figure in christian history as a roman soldier on a horse.

the chinese characters are: 马(ma): horse, and 丁(ding):soldier

you can hardly get any closer with a resemblance of the meaning in both languages.

Simon Wayne?