The uncommon name group behind the popularity of "Duck" surname: there are not a few names that cannot be entered by computer.
Names will accompany people through life. Before the arrival of a newborn, every parent will rack their brains to give their child a name with special meaning.
However, when we step into the network age, some groups of uncommon names are facing special difficulties. Because some surnames or first names are rare, they can’t be entered into the computer system, which causes inconvenience to their work and life, and finally they can only choose to change their names and surnames. There are also some surnames who choose to change their surnames because of the problem of modern pronunciation and fear of being laughed at.
Some ethnic culture researchers said that many uncommon names have their unique historical and cultural background, and should not be treated from a modern perspective, and they should be over-entertained. I hope that with the continuous progress of technology, uncommon words can be passed down and people with these special surnames and names have a sense of belonging and identity.
The original surname of the duck surname nià (Source: Network)
The bird clan changed their surname to duck because they could not enter "nià" on the computer.
Recently, a news that "the whole village collectively changed its surname to duck because the surname was too rare" blocked the hot search on the Internet, and many netizens tried to understand the story behind this special surname.
It is understood that these villagers are all Lisu people, who come from a village deep in the mountains of Yongsheng County, Lijiang City, Yunnan Province. Originally, the villagers’ surnames were "nià". This transliterated Chinese character consists of two parts, the upper part is missing a horizontal "bird" and the lower part is "A". For hundreds of years, people have been using the surname "nià" and passed it down by writing. But later, with the advent of the network information age, due to the inability to input and display the text in the computer system, villagers faced many inconveniences in applying for permits and traveling, so they had no choice but to change their surnames to "Duck".
Household registration information of villagers surnamed Ya (Source: Grain Rain Laboratory)
Under the influence of family culture, Li Zhufan, a Lisu nationality, has developed a strong interest in her own national culture since she was a child. Today, he is not only a national musician, but also a researcher of Lisu culture. He told Jimu journalists that Lisu people pay attention to clan culture and worship everything in nature, which is different from the hundred surnames of Han people. Among them, there are tiger clans and bear clans who believe in animals, and there are valley clans who believe in plants, and people with the surname "nià" are descendants of the bird clan, who worship flying birds. Because there is no word "nià" in the computer font, the villagers use "duck" instead of "nià" to meet the needs of modern life. According to Zhu Lifan’s understanding, the descendants of the bird clan, some of whom changed their surnames into finches or eagles, all continued their respect for birds.
"After the name nià was changed to a duck, it was really convenient in life, but it was a helpless move." Zhu Lifan said that many duck surnames still hope to change back to nià surnames, on the one hand, it can avoid the embarrassment of duck surnames pronunciation, on the other hand, it is also the inheritance of bird clan culture.
It is reported that in recent years, there are still many cases of being forced to change their surnames due to computer system reasons. According to public reports, there are hundreds of people in Gaozhuang Village, Heze, Shandong Province, whose surnames are "San (Shang) and (Xia)" (with the same pronunciation as "Shaanxi"). Because of the uncommon surnames, computer input methods can’t be typed, and some villagers have no choice but to take near-phonetic characters and change their surnames to "Xian" or "Xian".
Those who have "Gou" surnames are worried that their children will be laughed at and change their surnames.
It’s not just people with "nià" surnames who are troubled by uncommon surnames.
Jing Fang, a 33-year-old from Chongqing, was originally named Jing (pronounced gòu), but later, with the passage of time, she became a "Mi". When she was young, because the household registration system at that time could not recognize "Guo", she used "Gou" instead of "Guo", which was called "Gou Fang".
Genealogy of Jingfang Family (Source: Respondents)
However, this "Gou" also has a historical origin. Jingfang’s family tree clearly mentioned that due to historical reasons, the family name was "Jing". The anti-text beside "Gou" should be added, and only the sound of Gou should be removed. If you don’t add anti-text, you can only read the sound of Gou, don’t read gǒu, and don’t read J ǒ ng. Although it is pointed out in the genealogy that "Gou" should be the fourth sound when it is used as a surname, most people around Jingfang still pronounce it as G ǒ u. Because of the pronunciation of surnames, jìngfang naturally encountered a lot of embarrassment in her study and life. Later, slowly, when she introduced herself to the outside world, her name was no longer "Gou Fang" but "Jing Fang".
The trouble caused by the pronunciation of Gou surname is mainly reflected in the work. Jingfang now runs a cultural media company. In the company, the surname "Gou" also brings inconvenience to internal communication. Jingfang found that when employees have something to communicate with her, they are always afraid to call her "Gou boss". What worries Jing Fang even more is that she is afraid that when her young son introduces her surname to her classmates, she will be ridiculed and discriminated by her classmates, which will affect her physical and mental health. "I originally thought about giving my child my surname, but then I thought about it."
ID card before and after Jingfang changed her surname (Source: Respondent)
In June 2022, Jing Fang made up her mind to go to the local household registration department and apply for changing the surname of Gou to that of Jing. "The process of changing the surname is very smooth. The genealogy and the certificate issued by the hometown village will be done in a day or two." Jing Fang said that after she really changed her surname to Jing, she no longer explained too much that this surname should have been pronounced as gòu, but was called Ji ? ng.
There is also a surname of "chicken" because of pronunciation. According to China’s Complete Collection of Surnames and other documents, the surname of chicken is one of the four indigenous surnames in Foshan (namely, chicken, Tian, Bu and Lao), and it is also distributed in Shanghai and Yunnan. But the most concentrated place should be dongxing city, with more than 1,000 people surnamed Ji. As for the origin of the surname of chicken, most of the opinions agree that it evolved from the surname of Xi.
In 2017, the South China Morning Post reported that there are fewer and fewer people surnamed chicken. Dongxing city changed his surname from Ji to Xi, accounting for about one third of the whole family. The main reason is that he felt his surname was indecent after going out to study and working. As early as more than 10 years ago, this sense of crisis appeared in Guangdong — — Known as one of the "four indigenous surnames in Foshan", the chicken surname is rare in the local area.
The uncommon name group hopes that everyone will not misinterpret the original intention.
Some people change their surnames, and some people can’t enter them in the computer system because their names contain uncommon words, so they finally have no choice but to change their names.
An Cheng (a pseudonym) has a word chén in his original name, which consists of two parts, the left is "Cen" and the right is "Bird". This is the name his father chose after carefully reading the dictionary for a few days. Although full of his father’s ardent expectations, this uncommon word has caused him a lot of trouble.
Remote word chén (Source: Network)
"When I was a child, my ability to accept was slower than that of other children. The word" chén "was so complicated that I couldn’t write it for a long time. Students can’t read either. They only know the word bird, so they often make jokes. " In an cheng’s view, classmates and teachers can’t read it, so just correct it. However, when I print and post my name in the school score ranking, I am embarrassed. "Because the computer can’t type the word chén, it can only be divided into ‘ Cen ’ And ‘ Bird ’ Sometimes you don’t call your full name at all, just leave your last name. "
After entering high school in 2010, my father took An Cheng to the police station to change his name because he was worried that uncommon words would bring unnecessary trouble to the college entrance examination or future work. Since then, An Cheng has breathed a deep sigh of relief, and he no longer has to explain the pronunciation and origin of this uncommon word to strangers.
"Although more than ten years have passed, it is not easy to type this word in the computer. Many input methods still cannot be input, and only the public security household registration system can type it." An Cheng said that many rare words have their special meanings and cultures. I hope that strangers can understand them more after seeing them, and don’t misinterpret their original intention. "Of course, I also hope that the font library in the future will continue to expand, so as to avoid causing troubles and troubles to the people with rare words in their study and life."
As for Jing Fang, who has become a mother, she can’t get over the fact that adults call her original surname "gǒu". She said that her father in the countryside has never changed his surname, because the villagers don’t care and always call his father’s nickname. But now that I am going to the city, my name has a strong social attribute. If it is still pronounced as "gǒu", it will have a great influence. "Gou’s surname is no different from Zhao’s and wang xing’s. The reason why the former has become a joke for others is that the society has given this surname other meaning, which is a discrimination in people’s hearts."
Zhu Lifan, the above-mentioned researcher of Lisu culture, also believes that many uncommon names have their unique historical and cultural background, and should not be treated from a modern perspective and be over-entertained, but should learn more about the origin of their surnames. The cultures of ethnic minorities are all part of the Chinese culture. "I hope that the font in the future can accommodate more uncommon surnames, so that this culture can be passed down and people with these surnames can have a sense of belonging and identity."