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Hot on the heels of Iran banning the usage of several Western words used in every day language (email, pizza), China seems up next at the plate. It seems that a couple in China wants to name their child “@”. Yes..@, as in ‘at.’ Although in Chinese the proniunciation takes on another meaning:

While the “@” simple is familiar to Chinese e-mail users, they often use the English word “at” to sound it out — which with a drawn out “T” sounds something like “ai ta”, or “love him”, to Mandarin speakers.

Furthermore, China is facing further woes over names in this modern age. For starters, there are so many common surnames;tens of millions have the same exact first and last names and at least 93 million people have the last name Wang. The government (that lovable internet censoring entity) has decided to encourage people to name their children with surnames that combine that of the fathers and mothers to create diversity.

Lastly, where would we be without the people that society likes to leave behind, the country folk. It also seems that many people who have surnames that are written in such ancient Chinese characters that on official documentation there becomes an issue. This is because modern Chinese computer programs, as well as many Chinese themselves, are ‘left scratching their heads’ when it comes to interpreting such names.

All in all, it seems that China is going through an unprecedented time, where traditional barriers are being broken and even their language is at a critical juncture. Lets hope that this is just not allegory and China is truly changing.