Stella Yang (9) is one of many students at VHHS who has adopted an English name.

Yang goes by Stella at school, while at home she goes by her Korean name, Jiyun. Yang’s name in PowerSchool is also Jiyun.

According to Yang, going by an English name at school, while using a different name at home, comes with both benefits and challenges.

“At first I thought it would be easier to have an English name. But since I chose it when I was in elementary [school], I didn’t know that in Powerschool it would be my real name and I would have to keep correcting [teachers],” Yang said.

Yang has lived in Korea, Dubai, Singapore and the United States, which has influenced her experiences with names.

“I was able to meet diverse people and most of the people, mostly Korean, [had] English names,” said Yang.

Yang said that many Koreans who are born in the US get their English name through their church and keep their Korean name as their middle name.

This was the case for Claire Choi (11), who was born in the United States to Korean immigrant parents. Her Korean name, Da-young, is her middle name.

Elicia Back (11) shares the same Korean name as Choi, but she goes by the nickname Hanuel at home. According to Back, Hanuel translates to “sky.”

“[Our English names] are just as simple as they can get and have inspiration from the bible because that’s a big part of our lives,” Choi said.

According to Back, this differs from most Korean families at VHHS, who often have their Korean names as their legal names.

“A lot of people, at our school especially, have their actual Korean names spelled out phonetically [as their legal name],” Back said.

Like Back, Cathelin Xu (11) who is Chinese, also goes by a nickname at home.

“I feel like it’s not really common; it’s more common to have an actual Chinese name, but not many people go by [their Chinese name at school],” Xu said.

At home, Xu goes by Xu Xiao Mei, which translates to little sister. Xu’s older brother goes by Xiao Bao which translates to little brother.

According to Xu, most people with a Chinese name have their Chinese name as a middle name.

Similarly, Anita Shkolnik (12), who comes from a Hebrew background, goes by her Hebrew name at home.

Shkolnik’s grandparents call her Hannah or Anna, which is the root of Anita in Hebrew. Shkolnik’s family migrated from the Soviet Union to Israel, where she was born.

“In Israel, a lot of the first names people get are religious names,” Shkolnik said.