Fake Names

[freepixie]

if people are going to choose their own fake names to sound american, they're going to pick something more common place. the guys who are from saudi arabia and neighboring countries by me go by names like mike and charlie. i work with a native from china (although he did get US citizenship) named fred. there's no doubt his name isn't originally fred.

Its common practice in China/Hong Kong/even Korea for families to give their children a name in their native language, and a Western middle name. They often call it their "Christian" name and parents sometimes go to great lengths to make is sound similar to their native name.

Example (one of the little girls in my class) - her Korean name is "Yena" and her American name is "Eunice" - see they kinda sound alike! But I guess they didn't realize when naming her that there really aren't that many children named Eunice these days...

 

[freepixie]

I think alot of times the names are fake names. Specifically, the fellow who booked our DVC tour was named "Ariel". No way that I believe a middle aged, middle Eastern appearing man with dark hair and a mustache is really named "Ariel", nor do I believe that is his favorite character that he wants to be. Could be his favorite princess. He must have taken that tag out of the hat, although he had it the entire 5 days we were staying at OKW that trip.

We had a little boy in our class last year named Ariel, and his dad's name was also Ariel. Took a little explaining to the little girls that yes, his name is Ariel, and no, he is not the Little Mermaid. The family was Hispanic, and the name Ariel had been handed down for a few generations. To distinguish him from his dad, his mom called him "Arielito"

 

[tink22]

Most of the CMs use their real names. However, if they forget or lose their namebadge, they will wear another CMs badge. I have a picture somewhere of a male CM wearing a namebadge with the name Patsy. Very funny.

The foreign CPs usually pick a name since their real names are often hard to pronounce. It is not unusual to see a CM with a name like Nemo or Echo. They can pick whatever they like as long as it is not offensive.

Actually if the Patsy you saw worked in photopass then yes, that is his real name. I work with him all the time.

Also, there is a manager for entertainment in toontown that is named Aeriel. He is an Asian middle aged man. So sometimes the names are right, even when you think they aren't.

My boyfriend works in Akershus in the Norway pavilion and his name is Kim, which for Americans is considered a girl's name but is a very common name for males in Norway.

 

[eeyorethegreat]

The former pastor of my Mom's church was Kim (a male) I have heard that neame a few times since for males. There are several chinese families "all cousins" (not really but they were sponsored by the same naturalized family) When they came to this country the all chose and "American" name all of which end in ie or y for both males and females including children. Very nice folks all of them they are citizens or in the process of becoming citizens and take great pride in their American names.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

I was wondering, do cast members in the park have their real first name on their namebadges??

1) Fake names are used for ressie personnel.
2) And they change them often.
3) Name tags are the CM's name.
4) But, if you forget your badge, you grab one from the drawer.
5) These are usually not the real CM name.

NOTE: Managers and salaried personnel with "blue" ID's have their picture and are displayed, so they have to be correct. Hourly personnel have pictures and "yellow" badges, but are not allowed to display the ID.

 

[Disney1976]

i once spoke to a 'roy' on tech support for something when it was obvious he wasn't in this country (didn't even attempt to hide his accent either).

Yup, I got that all the time from one tech support company I called. It was clear they weren't located in the U.S., but the techs were all "Jim", "Steve", "Emily" and other traditional, "American sounding" names. Seems silly to me - I don't really care what the person's name is if they can help solve my problem, but I understand the outsourcing debate.

 

[disneywifey]

I never knew all this! It's so interesting! Now I'm going to go look in my records and see who I spoke to at Dining and see what his fake name was! Simple Pleasures!

 

[Lindsay22]

My nametag when I was on College Program read "Lindsay: Rutgers University" Of course, when I left my nametag at home I was "Torrell: Rock Island, IL"

I still have Torrell's nametag

 

[inkkognito]

Yup, I got that all the time from one tech support company I called. It was clear they weren't located in the U.S., but the techs were all "Jim", "Steve", "Emily" and other traditional, "American sounding" names. Seems silly to me - I don't really care what the person's name is if they can help solve my problem, but I understand the outsourcing debate.

Yes, it seems so stupid to "pretend" with an American sounding name when the person's accent is thick enough to cut with a knife and then they don't have enough command of English to vary from their script. Sort of an insult to the caller's intelligence.

I know a guy named Claire, which always threw me since I thought of it as a female name. But apparently it can be male too and was passed down through his family.

 

[SwhJess]

At F&WF last year, DH and I ran into a CM in one of the food booths whose tag said Megan with 'Pittsburgh' underneath it. Well, we're from Pittsburgh, and mentioned that to "Megan." Being friendly, we told her what section of the city we were from, and asked what part of Pittsburgh she was from. She hesitated....and then proceeded to tell us that Pittsburgh "is in Southern Pennsylvania." (as if we had asked WHERE in PA it was...and let alone that nobody from the Burgh would ever describe it as being in "Southern PA"...."Southwestern PA" - yes. "Southern" - no.)

DH and I looked at each other like 'who is actually nuts here?'...and her response makes more sense now. She must've grabbed that name tag from the infamous "extras" drawer!

 

[rwdavis2]

Back in 1998 we found that one CM working at the check-in desk at the Contemporary was from Brazil one day and Brooklyn the next.
Bob