Guide: How to register a 'real' English name for your Taiwanese child

His name is NOT an ‘English’ name!!

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Ok, sorry I wasn’t aware that your boy’s name isn’t of English origin. It’s pure ignorance of that teacher, I can’t comment on that. :roll_eyes:

I had this debate on Taiwan Baseball Wiki. I argued that we should use the label “Original name” instead of" English names" when it comes to writing down a name in Latin letters. It took a while for other editors to come around.

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Not true. My first Chinese surname sounded nothing like my English surname. It does now, but that’s because I chose to change it.

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Sounds much better than “English name”.

You know there are other alphabets too, right?

Mine is the opposite.
It used to sound similar to my original surname (or at least one of the syllables of it), but I changed to one that doesn’t sound like at all.

What I did:

  • 中文: Chinese name
  • 外文: English name (Surname, First Name Middle Name)
  • 外文別名: Pinyin romanisation of Chinese name

Why I did it that way:

  • Sometimes I need to travel on multiple passports in one ticket. It is necessary to have the English names on all passports line up to avoid madness.
  • existing accounts refer to English name and the passport is one of a very small number of documents that can be official proof of equivalence of the English and Chinese names
  • Pinyin provides a pronunciation guide for the Chinese name.
  • Some systems automatically pinyin-ize the Chinese name, so it might be needed in theory.

All three are printed on the passport, but the “alias” is less prominent and has less of an official status, apparently.

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My son has a german name. But people already asked if what’s his “english” Name ist/will be. Sometimes I explain that he’s got a german name, sometimes I reply with “Iarfhlaith” and watch their brain bluescreen.

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Thank you for the detailed response. That’s exactly what I want as well. To have Chinese , English and Pinyin name on the passport.

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Most baseball playing countries uses the Roman alphabet. Those who don’t are referred to as Japanese name or Korean name, instead of “English name”

I call my Taiwanese friends by their local name and not their English name because in my mind that’s the name they grew up with so its out of respect. Their English name has no real meaning to them. That said if someone told me that either their English or Chinese name represented them due to cultural connections in both places I’m game for that too.

One of my friends is a dual citizen and I call him by his western name all the time. If this guys kids feel connected to two homelands, why not have two names. If the kids have no real interest in western life or culture I’d say to let it go (pun intended) Just some random thoughts

I did the same. Chinese name has zero connection with my English name. English transliterations tend to sound stupid in Mandarin.

I agree that you shouldn’t need one, even though it can be convenient.

As well, why should foreigners have “Chinese” name in Taiwan?

Basically, integration with local culture (not to be confused with assimilation – that would be renouncing/abandoning your original name). :2cents:

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Because English is the official language in Hong Kong and Singapore, while Chinese is the official language in Taiwan. Apples and oranges.

In fact, English names are required for all official documents in Hong Kong, while Chinese names are optional. This includes business names listed on certificates of incorporation.

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On the website of the Bureau of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China(Taiwan) (boca.gov.tw), they use “Foreign name” and “Roman alphabet”

Article 14

Foreign names in passports shall be recorded as follows:

  1. The Roman alphabet shall be used. Foreign names in other scripts shall be converted to the Roman alphabet. The original foreign name in another script may be listed as foreign alias.
  2. If the applicant is applying for a passport for the first time, his or her foreign name spelled in the Roman alphabet, which has been used in any of the following documents, …

FYR The following screenshot is from the English sample of the form to amend an ROC passport at the BOCA website

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I applied for an English translation of the household registry to register my son’s German name. I brought his german passport, which was accepted and went through without any problems.

I am renewing my child’s US passport after inadvertently letting it expire. AIT ACS people have told me that we are far from the only ones this has happened to since we haven’t traveled outside of Taiwan for over 2 years. My kid holds both ROC and US passports, and it took about a week to renew the ROC passport.

Earlier this week, I went to AIT to begin the process of applying for my child’s US passport. AIT asked me to add the foreign name to the new ROC Passport as an “also known as” name. Since the ROC Passport is brand new, they said we can ask MOFA (or BOCA?) to add the “also known as” as an amendment in the Amendments & Endorsement pages of the ROC Passport. Apparently, it will be a sticker attached to one of those pages (maybe because the romanized Chinese name is already occupying the line below the Chinese name on the ID page of the passport)

Thank you to the OP for posting the links on the BOCA website

I did not see any information about the steps to take to go about amending the passport. Do you know if I complete the Amendment form for my kid (like the sample) and then go to the Information desk at BOCA’s office on Jinan Road? Will I need to bring my child with me to BOCA to make a personal appearance?

I do not know. But, it might be easier to apply for a whole new passport to be honest. That way you can do it at the household registration office. Only costs $1000 right?

That’s a good idea – I just checked and my spouse’s household registration does include my kid’s foreign name on it. We had asked a travel agency to help us get the new ROC passport and we did not provide the Household Registration (I presume if we had, then the new passport would have picked up the foreign name).

AIT has been very understanding and accommodating of our plight. They are holding a file of the DS-11 Passport Renewal form that I submitted to them with what supporting documentation I had when I met them. So, we have started the process (I paid the renewal fee at AIT already) and they have said a few documents that I still need to submit can follow once they are ready. This includes the new ROC Passport with the AKA name. So, I am inclined to follow their instructions about getting the AKA name sticker on this passport since they already have a copy of it in the file (presumably, maybe they have already notarized it)

I have asked my travel agent who helped us for advice. I am hoping there might be someone here who can share any direct experience. I did read somewhere online that a personal appearance at BOCA by the applicant may be necessary - so that would take a bit of logistical planning to pull the kid out of school for a half-day (I hope this isn’t necessary)

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did you register your kid’s both names with the AIT?
Chinese name + romanisation + English name?