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How do you put your name on the google search?

What is the best way to change the last name of "Chen" to something more Google-able without offending other Chinese people?

  • I'm sick and tired of people not being able to find my stuff just because of my ultra-common name. I'm sick of thinking of how many people might have tried to contact me, but who have failed to find a way to contact me just because of my ultra-common name (including long-lost friends) - unfortunately - most people have very poor Google skills, but I do not judge. And I'm sick of thinking of all the potential 10X/6-Sigma collaborators that I might lose because of this (again, one can be a good researcher and still suck at using Google) Some people try hard, but most people don't. Most people are shit-lazy - with every additional click, you lose a huge number of followers (explained really well here: ). Doesn't matter if I include my middle name - it goes completely unnoticed to most people. And it's especially prone to going unnoticed when people mention me in passing. Unfortunately, all the other variants of "Chen" also have ultra-common names. I've even seen some of the weird terms people use in order to find me (I know, since I record what search terms people use when they come to my website or blog). And I know of cases where people were unable to find other people with super-common names. And for those who say that "Google doesn't matter" - I can say from first-hand experience that it does, due to the above-mentioned reasons. And academics (who put time at an extreme premium) are especially known for this. I can change my first name, of course, but then it would be a bit awkward (because most people are used to calling people by their first names). That, and China's growing presence on the Internet may mean more people with the same exact name. Also, see http://mysite.science.uottawa.ca/rsmith43/ and http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/684873 for details about someone who was in a similar situation.

  • Answer:

    Use your three-syllable name as a single word without spaces. Mathematician https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDcQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FShiing-Shen_Chern&ei=-ubXUNTZOLH4igKK04DYCA&usg=AFQjCNGvk1XpIQLHyN_DhnGL7QDa01ptlQ&sig2=_y0foocIZia9LyhdTqdOuA&bvm=bv.1355534169%2Cd.cGE used the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwoyeu_Romatzyh romanization to transliterate his Chinese name 陳省身.

Joseph Boyle at Quora Visit the source

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My favorite way to deal with that issue is to start an adwords campaign buy bidding on your name. When someone Google "John Smith" your ad pops up saying "John Smith from Phoenix AZ went to UCLA and now works at Blank Co"

Christopher Dendy

You could change the spelling of your last name to something more phonetically correct and unique. My family translated our name "incorrectly" (it's a very common Chinese surname that is usually translated something like Cheng or Zhang) to a spelling that no one else uses, so everyone with that specific spelling is directly related to me.

Anonymous

Adopt a very unusual English first name. A variant spelling would be even better. For example Gwladys Chen has 165,000 Google results vs 2,370,000 for Gladys Chen. Or you could make up a name, or take one that is not usually used as a first name. Hong Kongers do the latter all the time.

Gabriel Seah

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