In Shanghai, she was Wen Yan Lu.

In Hong Kong, she became Man Yin Luk, the Cantonese version of her Mandarin Chinese name. Officials made her change her name when she immigrated there at age 16.

At Northwestern, she is Roxanne. Although she is still officially Man Yin Luk, the Weinberg freshman goes by the traditionally American first name to make her name more memorable in the United States, she said.

“I feel so bad,” Luk said. “No one is calling me by my real name now.”

Name changes similar to Luk’s are common at NU. Whether they immigrate to the U.S. or have parents from other countries, some students adopt more traditional American names for a host of reasons.

“I think a lot of times people change their names to make them blend in better and to mark themselves as belonging,” said Elisabeth Elliott, senior lecturer in NU’s Slavic Language and Literature Department. Adopting a more traditional American name has a long history, she said. Ellis Island officials used to Americanize many immigrants’ names to make them easier to pronounce. But Elliott said changing names might have cultural consequences.

Based on her experience at NU, Associate Director of the Asian American Studies Program Ji-Yeon Yuh said name changes are common among Asian Americans. It is most common to place an American name in front of the native Asian name and to go by the American name.

“In all my time here I’ve only known about three Asian American students who grew up here but use their Asian name and don’t have an American name,” said Yuh, who is also a history professor.

Some Americans misspell and mispronounce Asian names, she said.

“(There is) a long tradition of making fun of Asian names as nothing but grunts,” Yuh said. “It’s a racist tradition.”

She said name changes are not limited to Asian Americans, mentioning stars such as Marilyn Monroe and Doris Day did not go by their original names. But name changing is more common among Asian Americans than among people Europeans, Yuh said.

Luk said she randomly chose the name Roxanne. What matters is that it’s a simple American name, she said.

“Roxanne, it’s easier for people to remember,” she said. “If I use my Cantonese name, they’re not going to remember.”

Vivian Han, a SESP senior, said she was named after film star Vivien Leigh, who played Scarlet O’Hara in “Gone with the Wind.” Han goes by Vivian for “everything except being introduced to Korean people.” For this, she goes by her Korean name, Seong Ok. At home and among friends, she is sometimes known as Bibi, a nickname for Vivian.

“Maybe my parents just thought it would be easier to fit in having an American name,” she said. She added that her parents might have thought it would be easier to find jobs.

But students with American and Asian names said they didn’t feel disconnected from their culture. Instead, they said there are advantages to having two names.

“I have both a Korean and American identity,” Han said. “Having an American and Korean name helps to kind of represent both of the cultures that I embody.”

People from European countries might not be as likely to Americanize their names because many European names already resemble traditional American names, Yuh said.

“There is not a tradition of poking at Slavic names or Russian names or German names or Italian names,” she said.

Bartosz Andrzej Dajnowski, originally from Gdansk, Poland, said he would never change his name, though the Weinberg senior sometimes goes by the nickname Bartek. His name is associated with his success in judo and his family’s art restoration business.

Dajnowski also values his name for its initial combination. The initials “BAD” on his license plate have attracted police attention.

Ana Valenzuela omits her middle name, Maricela. She sometimes tells people to pronounce her name as the more Americanized “Anna,” but these are the only changes she has made to her name. The Weinberg senior’s Spanish name helps her stand out at NU, where there are not many Latino students, she said.

“I feel hugely connected to (my name),” she said. “That’s who I am. I see changing your name as trying to alter yourself.”

Reach Lauren Pond at [email protected].