# "Babyshark" as a name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 2, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babyshark-as-a-name/548888 "2010-08-02T14:05:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babyshark-as-a-name/548888/1 "2010-08-02T14:05:09Z")
I came across someone with the name “Babyshark” in my company’s outlook directory. This person’s last name appeared to be Chinese. Is this a common name, and is this an English translation of a traditional Asian name? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babyshark-as-a-name/548888/2 "2010-08-02T15:31:15Z")
Many Chinese that work with westerners adopt English names to fit in better. Not legally a name change, but informal nick names they use for work. Sounds like “Babyshark” may have been led astray on the English name he/she chose. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babyshark-as-a-name/548888/3 "2010-08-02T15:34:47Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > Sounds like “Babyshark” may have been led astray on the English name he/she chose. Or may have thought it was really cool. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babyshark-as-a-name/548888/4 "2010-08-02T15:51:17Z")
_I_ think it’s really cool. Seriously - Babyshark! It’s adorable, yet toothy! ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babyshark-as-a-name/548888/5 "2010-08-02T16:11:34Z")
Maybe the parents were big fans of bootleg Chinese mistranslations of [Babyshambles](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babyshambles) albums. Alternatively, IT departments will sometimes create dummy accounts under false names for various training or testing purposes. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babyshark-as-a-name/548888/6 "2010-08-02T16:16:51Z")
Since Chinese names lose a lot in translation and many English-speakers say them wrong, many Chinese people choose an English name for working with foreigners or just to be fashionable… For whatever reason, these can get pretty fanciful. I’ve had students with names like “Suddenly,” “Fish,” “Witch” and “Sexy.” Chinese names themselves usually have a literal meaning and some of these can be off the wall- I had a friend whose name translates as “Ten Thousand Books.” ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babyshark-as-a-name/548888/7 "2010-08-02T17:41:47Z")
Suddenly! God, I love that. Suddenly! I wonder if I could get people to call me that? (The thing is, I’ve been working on writing a mystery and I have to forcefully excise “suddenly” every time I want to write it. Just think, it could be my name and I could get it out of my system!) ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babyshark-as-a-name/548888/8 "2010-08-02T18:28:18Z")
When I worked in China many of my colleagues asked me to recommend English names that fit in with their Chinese names. Someone whose name was formed with an ideogram of a mountain got the name Cliff, someone with a river got the name Hudson. I gave someone the nickname Mr. Sea of Pigs, not to be mean, it’s just what worked. Could be something like that. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babyshark-as-a-name/548888/9 "2010-08-02T18:43:14Z")
I taught a class in Singapore for a couple of years. One of my students had Chinese name that I apparently butchered every time I tried to say it. (Shi Yu maybe? It’s been a while.) Anyway, this little girl got frustrated with my inability to pronounce her name and eventually told me to just call her “Shark.” Apparently, a direct translation of her name from Chinese to English was something along the lines of “Big Fish,” but she thought “Shark” sounded better. I always felt a little weird addressing a tiny little girl that way, but whatever. Maybe Babyshark has a similar story? ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babyshark-as-a-name/548888/10 "2010-08-02T19:20:56Z")
I was recently at the wedding of a Chinese-Canadian woman whose name is Hiu-Yee. She calls herself Huey in everyday life. ---
**Author:** ![Shark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Shark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babyshark-as-a-name/548888/11 "2010-08-03T18:47:43Z")
I don’t see a problem. Perfectly cromulent name. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babyshark-as-a-name/548888/12 "2010-08-03T19:29:51Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > For whatever reason, these can get pretty fanciful. I’ve had students with names like “Suddenly,” “Fish,” “Witch” and “Sexy.” That explains it. I recently met a Happy. It didn’t occur to me until just now to ask if her sisters were Dopey, Bashful, and Doc. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babyshark-as-a-name/548888/13 "2010-08-03T19:54:18Z")
> [@](#): > > Chinese names themselves usually have a literal meaning and some of these can be off the wall- I had a friend whose name translates as “Ten Thousand Books.” Wow, I know what I’m naming one of my kids now! ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babyshark-as-a-name/548888/14 "2010-08-04T15:06:33Z")
My wife is from mainland China, and I asked her if there’s a name that could be transliterated into “Babyshark”. She said yes, their name is probably Xiao Shayu (I think I spelled that right), a legitimate Chinese name which would translate as “Little Shark” or “Baby Shark”. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babyshark-as-a-name/548888/15 "2010-08-04T19:26:13Z")
> [@Jet\_Jaguar](#): > > My wife is from mainland China, and I asked her if there’s a name that could be transliterated into “Babyshark”. She said yes, their name is probably Xiao Shayu (I think I spelled that right), a legitimate Chinese name which would translate as “Little Shark” or “Baby Shark”. Maybe so, Jet, but stay away from this Shark anyway. We don’t don’t want any dance rumbles breaking out. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babyshark-as-a-name/548888/16 "2010-08-06T12:40:00Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > Sounds like “Babyshark” may have been led astray on the English name he/she chose. But the guy at the tattoo parlor said it meant “Powerful Beauty”!