For small fee, this laowai will give you English name that doesn't make you sound like a stripper

By Adan Kohnhorst, March 30, 2015

If you're planning on naming your forthcoming child Apple, then there's an entrepreneur who would probably like to talk to you.

Any expat worth their salt can pull out at least two or three bizarre English names they've encountered in China. The two cultures have vastly different naming traditions, which can sometimes result in unfortunately comical monikers. What might sound like a strong, bold name for your son in Chinese might somehow in English end up as Bones. You may be looking out for a name for your daughter that denotes a light and sweet personality, but maybe Creamy is not the right name for your girl.

American expat Lindsay Jernigan saw a corresponding business opportunity and launched her website Best English Name in order to provide Chinese students and families with foreign expert guidance during their crucial name selection process. The website offers a brief personality quiz at the cost of RMB15 that will give you five top-grade English names. Bump the fee up to RMB120 and you get a 30 minute private consultation with Jernigan or a member of her team - RMB200 gets you an hour.

As more and more young Chinese go abroad for work and education, the importance of a suitable English name becomes apparent. Jernigan told The Nanfang that her biggest pet peeves are "stripper names" that are sometimes given to Chinese girls, like Cherry, Sapphire, and Candy. "These could be the names of really smart and capable young women - but most Westerners would have a hard time moving past the name. This is one of the big reasons I started the site in the first place," she said.

A strange business platform, but one with at least some practical use in this day and age. And, because this is what you clicked for, here are a few of our favorite real-world English names from around the sinosphere: