Yup, knew a few kids as well. Mercedes is common, but that’s like a stripper name lol.
One women made her husband call himself Louis, pronounced the French way.
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Or not.
Your point being?
I guess “Idiots” wasn’t the best place to discuss this after all 
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They obviously aren’t that cultured to be thinking of Mercedes in that way. It is a common stripper name in the US. And they’re going around saying his English name is “Louis” when they can’t speak a word of French and can’t even pronounce it correctly or know anything past Louis Vuitton. It typical 土豪 stuff.
at least they are not Monica and Veronica, or Konica and Monica
I defer to your expertise. 
It was good enough for Mr. Armstrong. No need to get all hoity-toity about it, Monsieur. 
I think his point is that Louis Armstrong wasn’t named after a manbag. The thought process matters. If Kennedy had sent men to the moon in order to secure US self-sufficiency in cheese, that would have made the whole thing stupid, even if the goal itself was impressive.
I don’t think most Mercedeses were named after strippers either, but I might be wrong. 
No … they were named after a car typically purchased by the sort of man who frequents stripclubs. So not far off.
When I was in Australia I’ve met a Chinese guy who has chosen his English first name to be Beethoven.
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was it pronounced as in ‘Bill and Ted’? 
Whoa! It was a very long time ago I have seen that movie. 
Nah. But everyone had a chuckle when he said his name. 
It may be a common stripper name, but it is a real, common name, at least where I’m from in California. I knew plenty of women named Mercedes, mostly Latina and Filipina, who weren’t strippers. Personally, I think someone choosing an English name that is an actual common name, but also evokes the idea of a status symbol, is pretty clever.
But I do get what you’re saying. I once had an adult student who chose Messiah as his English name. Messiah! 
We tactfully tried to dissuade him, but he was adamant about it.
Next thing you know, there’ll be people walking around calling themselves Madonna or Jesus or Krishna…
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Only a tiny fraction of English names in Taiwan come from parents, the vast majority are chosen by the person theyself, usually in High School or Uni.
ah, good point.
I guess he just pulled that one out of his ass.
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Sometimes their teachers. I named one of my preschoolers Boris back in the day.
I think it’s a great name, though. Plus I was riffing off the sound of his Chinese name. You can’t say I didn’t put some thought into every name I bestowed upon an unwitting child.
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The real power move IMO is just romanizing your Chinese name to serve as your English name.
I see what you did there
Jesus, one of our company lawyers is named Boris.
On Wednesday I have a meeting with a new PM named Fabio.
I’m steeling myself for the inevitable disappointment.
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