Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Foreword by Him Mark Lai     
Acknowledgments     
Introduction     

PART I: CHINESE NAME TRADITIONS     
1. History, Myths and Family Names     
2. Sources of Family Names     
3. Some Characteristics of Family Names     
4. On Chinese Given Names     
5. The Generation Name     

PART II: NAMES AS CLUES TO IDENTITY     
6. Who Are Chinese Americans?     
7. A Great Variety in Dialect Sound     
8. A Choice of Name Styles     

PART III: CHINESE AMERICAN NAME CUSTOMS     
9. Chinese Names in Early Official Records     
10. Stabilizing Surnames     
11. It’s Only a “Paper” Name     
12. Attempts to Standardize Chinese Name Spelling     
13. Americanization of Names     
14. Transferring Name Traditions     
15. New Patronyms and Other New Names     
16. Surname Clumping and Family Associations     

PART IV: WHAT’S IN A SURNAME CHARACTER?      
17. Parsing the Character     
18. Preserving the Surname Character     
19. Summary     

Appendix: Common Surnames and Their Chinese Characters     
Glossary     
Notes     
Selected Bibliography     
Index