{"id":15,"date":"2013-05-03T05:46:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-03T05:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sjbealehrconsult-co-uk.php5.hostingweb.co.uk\/blog\/?p=15"},"modified":"2013-12-06T18:55:03","modified_gmt":"2013-12-06T17:55:03","slug":"whats-in-a-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sjbealehrconsult.co.uk\/blog\/whats-in-a-name\/","title":{"rendered":"What&#8217;s In a Name?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span>This is a guest blog by Sn<span lang=\"EN-US\">\u00e9<\/span>ha Kilhay,\u00a0<span>Director of Blue Tulip Training which supports organisations in the areas of Cultural Diversity and Bullying\/Harassment<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<div><i style=\"font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1;\">What\u2019s in a name? \u00a0That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.\u2019<\/i><span style=\"font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1;\">\u00a0William Shakespeare.<\/span><\/div>\n<p><span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<div><span>I recently conducted a bullying and harassment investigation for a large organisation. \u00a0I interviewed a witness who, despite being told my name both by email and at the start of the meeting, asked if she could call me \u2018Mary\u2019.<\/span><\/div>\n<p><span>I must confess, given the serious nature of the interview, I was surprised and rather uncomfortable at this request.<\/span><br \/>\n<span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<div><span>Generally, I am in awe of the multicultural aspect of the UK. \u00a0However, the witness\u2019s response made me question whether we have made as much progress around diversity as we like to believe. \u00a0I recall that, when at school over 35 years ago, during registration there would routinely be heavy pauses as teachers tried to read my name and then state along the lines of \u2018the girl with the foreign name that I can\u2019t be bothered to pronounce\u2019. \u00a0This was also aligned with a stream of awkward corrections as teachers tried to pronounce my name, to which their main response was \u2018Why can\u2019t we call you \u2018Sue\u2019; it would make our life so much easier?\u2019 <\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>Fast forward 35 years, into a new century and the exciting world of technological advancement allowing greater connection world-wide. <\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>Yet, in December 2012, the all party parliamentary group on race and community published a study showing that women who \u2018whitened\u2019 or \u2018anglicised\u2019 their names on job applications sent only half as many job applications before being invited for interview. (Guardian, 12 April 2013) <\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>What is the trigger of discomfort, this resistance to foreign names? \u00a0Whilst we indulge in celebrities\u2019 giving their children unusual (and some might consider them outlandish) names, for instance Gwyneth Paltrow\u2019s daughter Apple, David Beckham\u2019s daughter, Harper 7, do we resort to past patterns of experience to create, even insist on familiarity because it provides some form of safety? <\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>Mohammed Siddique*, a well established and successful entrepreneur, made a conscious decision to anglicise his name. \u00a0He explained that, given he had adapted his dress, his accent and even his diet to be accepted in Britain, it seemed only logical to adapt his name to overcome hurdles, get results and be successful. \u00a0His established clients admitted that they would not have contemplated doing business with companies whose MD had such a foreign-sounding name. \u00a0Mohammed acknowledged that he was weary of the negative, terrorist-related connotations around his names, especially in airports; so much so that he is now considering changing his name by deed poll. \u00a0Does this mean that some immigrants have needed to anglicise, adapt or even ditch their foreign sounding names despite living in an evolving, multicultural Britain and its heavy focus on equality legislation? <\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>I am aware that, amongst friends and colleagues, there is a dichotomy about changing names. \u00a0Some believe that having an ethnic and \/or unusual name limits their recruitment opportunities and career progression. \u00a0Others believe strongly that the solution to this problem of latent, subliminal bias in recruitment and promotion is to take authority and anglicise their name. \u00a0Others change their names simply to fit in, acknowledging that their foreign name is hard to pronounce and it is therefore more convenient and sociable to adapt their name or create a nickname to which their peers can warmly respond. \u00a0It is common knowledge that Barack Obama used \u2018Barry\u2019 rather than his birth name whilst at college. \u00a0One colleague acknowledged that her family changed their surname to an anglicised spelling, as they had been living in UK for some years and wanted to be fully integrated into the society which they had become part of. \u00a0She added that, had the changes to her name been imposed on her, she would have felt resentful. <\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>There are a number of communities, for instance, Jewish Refugees during WW2, Poles shortly afterwards and, more recently, those coming from Iran, China, India, and Africa who, as a coping mechanism, have assigned easy to pronounce, anglicised names whilst retaining traditional ethnic names for their family and communities. <\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>On the flip side, many feel strongly that, by changing their name, they are negating their sense of self, betraying their culture and eradicating an important part of their ethnic identity, that too only in favour of social convenience. \u00a0Others believe that anglicising their name would be a mockery, a sense of contempt of their identity. \u00a0Their argument is that names can be broken down into short syllables and colleagues can get used to unusual names after repeating it a few times, just like learning any other new word. \u00a0One friend said she could not bear to be insulted with the term \u2018coconut\u2019 \u2013 white on the inside and brown on the outside were she to anglicise her name and not be true to her roots and origins. <\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>Fundamentally this is about choices. \u00a0It is apparent that \u2013 not just in the UK \u2013 but in other parts of the world, there is a degree of contempt and prejudice against ethnic minorities. \u00a0The issue is whether people choose to change their name, to get their foot in the door, whatever that door represents.\u00a0 Is there a willingness to take time to explain and understand the correct pronunciation of their name, perhaps its meaning and facilitating a productive conversation with the peers in the process? \u00a0In the situation with the witness, whether her reasons were; fear, ignorance, anxiety or even lack of effort, she indicated an indifference about my name and wanted to impose a name familiar to her but not right for me. \u00a0The crippling aspects of indifference, negative judgement or even apathy \u2013 an \u2018I can\u2019t be bothered\u2019, attitude leaves me wondering if British organisations, despite advancements in equality legislation, are taking one step forward and two steps back if there are in favour of only British-sounding names. <\/span><\/div>\n<div><span><i>\u2018If you acknowledge my name you pay me a subtle compliment, you indicate that I have made an impression on you. \u00a0Acknowledge my name and you add to my feeling important\u2019. \u00a0<\/i>Adapted from Dale Carnegie\u2019s Quote. <\/span><\/div>\n<p><span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<div><span><i>\u2018Our job as recruiters is to send what we deem to be the right CV to our clients. \u00a0If I put forward a candidate with an unusual or a foreign name, 90% of the time I will hear nothing. \u00a0When there are 300 CVs to go through any foreign name is likely to be deleted without even being opened. \u00a0We feel dreadful about it but essentially it is a matter of time saving\u2019.<\/i><span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0Guardian\u00a0April 12 2013 <\/span><\/div>\n<p><span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<div><span><i>\u2018My name has 14 letters. \u00a0When I graduated, the university took time to ring my parents to ask how my name should be pronounced at the ceremony.<\/i> <\/span><\/div>\n<p><span><i><br \/>\n<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<div><span><i>It was really nice of the university, we were all (pleasantly) shocked. \u00a0People are usually just too ignorant to make the effort\u2019. \u00a0<\/i>Quote from Student Forum <\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>*Names have been changed <\/span><\/div>\n<p><span><br \/>\n<\/span><span>Sn<span lang=\"EN-US\">\u00e9<\/span>ha can be contacted at:<\/span><\/p>\n<div><span lang=\"EN-US\"><span>Blue Tulip Training <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div><span lang=\"EN-US\"><span>(Essence of Equality)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bluetuliptraining.co.uk\/\"><span>www.bluetuliptraining.co.uk<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div><span lang=\"EN-US\"><span>Telephone: 01923 467885 <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div><span lang=\"EN-US\"><span>Mobile<\/span><\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\"><span>: 07788 446191<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p><span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is a guest blog by Sn\u00e9ha Kilhay,\u00a0Director of Blue Tulip Training which supports organisations in the areas of Cultural Diversity and Bullying\/Harassment What\u2019s in a name? \u00a0That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0William Shakespeare. I recently conducted a bullying and harassment investigation for a large organisation. \u00a0I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,13,15,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bullying-and-harassment","category-discrinination","category-equality-act-2010","category-victimisation"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What&#039;s In a Name? -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sjbealehrconsult.co.uk\/blog\/whats-in-a-name\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What&#039;s In a Name? -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This is a guest blog by Sn\u00e9ha Kilhay,\u00a0Director of Blue Tulip Training which supports organisations in the areas of Cultural Diversity and Bullying\/Harassment What\u2019s in a name? \u00a0That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0William Shakespeare. 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