Why do so many martial arts actors have western names?

Jackie Chan
Bruce Lee
Donnie Yen
Tony Jaa

What's up with this?

Are you the new RobertClive?

IIRC Bruce got his name from a doctor, physcian I beleive, read that somewhere.

Originally Posted by Ketnix

IIRC Bruce got his name from a doctor, physcian I beleive, read that somewhere.

They're from Hong Kong. English names are common there. Former British colony.

Bruce lee was american he was born in in an Hospital in chinatown In San Francisco. He grew up in hong Kong though, but he return to enter in a college in USA. You could say he was chinese-american.
and yes his physcian gave him the name of Bruce when he was born.

Originally Posted by Eneru112

Jackie Chan
Bruce Lee
Donnie Yen
Tony Jaa

What's up with this?

They're from Hong Kong. English names are common there. Former British colony.

Originally Posted by Lord of Lost Socks

They're from Hong Kong. English names are common there. Former British colony.

Tony Jaa isn't from hongkongu

Never heard of him but let me google that for you.

I bet this guy was waiting for months for the perfect opportunity to use that but wasted it in a thread where it doesn't apply. Sad.

Originally Posted by Kanaric

I bet this guy was waiting for months for the perfect opportunity to use that but wasted it in a thread where it doesn't apply. Sad.

Hmm.

Atleast for me it leads to a site that says that Tony Jaa's name is actually Panom Yeerum.


He might as well google it himself. Took me about a minute. Didn't really care enough beyond that.

Originally Posted by Lord of Lost Socks

Hmm.

Atleast for me it leads to a site that says that Tony Jaa's name is actually Panom Yeerum.


He might as well google it himself. Took me about a minute. Didn't really care enough beyond that.

What makes you think I didn't know Tony Jaa's real name? Didn't even have to google it. Jelly?

As for "making it easier for us", that's just.. sad. Not to mention Chinese names sound a lot cooler to me.

Originally Posted by Eneru112

What makes you think I didn't know Tony Jaa's real name? Didn't even have to google it. Jelly?

As for "making it easier for us", that's just.. sad. Not to mention Chinese names sound a lot cooler to me.

They change their names so that they are more suitable for western audiences, if they don't already have a western name. Chances are most non-martial arts film enthusiasts have never heard of Zhang Zhiyi or Chow Yun Fat, though they are just as prevalent in martial arts films, just not ones that have been targeted so much at the Anglophone audience.

Also, Chinese people will adapt western names when they immigrate to make it easier for us. They probably choose screen names based on the same reasoning.

Originally Posted by MrMofo

Also, Chinese people will adapt western names when they immigrate to make it easier for us. They probably choose screen names based on the same reasoning.

Yup. Even born and bred Americans change their names when they pursue a career in acting so as to have an extra edge, names mean a great deal.

You just mentioned probably the only two who people would know since everyone and their dog has seen Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Especially Chow Yun Fat is a fairly mainstream actor.

Then again I might overestimate people, my did didn't even know who Gary Oldman was.


As for the topic, Chinese and other Eastern Asian names simply don't mean anything to most people. And It's not only them. Russian, Armenian, various African,... are just sequences of letters with no meaning to me.
Western European names on the other hand sound familiar, have a relatable structure and often I even understand the meaning.
Take your Tony Jaa example, it's simple:It's the classic first + last name, first name is Tony which has cognates in every language in Western Europe, and the last name is a fairly short, easy-to-remember sequence.
Panom Yeerum however is just a random assortment of letters. I Don't even know which is the family name.
If I was a huge fan I'd try and remember it. But most people aren't going to be huge fans, and getting your name out there as an actor is extremely important, so you need an easily remembered name.

Originally Posted by Manco

Gary Oldman

Who?

Originally Posted by Eneru112

Who?

Let me google that for you

Originally Posted by Jaketh

Let me google that for you

lol

Originally Posted by Kanaric

lol

Link

Keeps the boredom at bay

Its because they are secretive little Asians.

del