Real Estate Agent · Clearwater, FL · Member since 2018 · 3 posts · 13 votes
Hi everyone!
So my question is pretty straightforward. I am a new Real Estate agent and I wonder if I should Americanize my name to gain that initial connection with clients? A lot of people have difficulties pronouncing and remembering my name, and I wonder if I would have more success if I use a more common name. I do go by Sophie sometimes, but it is not my legal name. I wanted to reach out to you guys and see if I can get any inside insights. I want to establish my name and brand in the real estate field and thought I should decide now whether I am going to go with my legal name or a nickname. Quick background on me, I am originally from Israel and moved to FL about 6 years ago. My name means Sapphire in Hebrew, I like it a lot but wouldn't mind having other people call me by a different name if it significantly improves my business. Thank you all!
@Sapir Simply Well there you have it! Looks pretty lopsided in favor of retaining your REAL name....go out and take advantage of that incredible name!
No, you have a lot of lopsided support for this BS about authenticity from people with Anglo names and weak imaginations who didn't grow up here being told repeatedly to go back to where they came from.
Bruce, my first name is not really Jim. It's the Greek version of that. My last name is also Greek as hell. I can still remember in the first grade when the teacher specifically asked me to spell out my first name AS IT WAS WRITTEN ON MY BIRTH CERTIFICATE (my mom and dad always called me "Jim"), I was unsure of the spelling. My parents had never shown me my long-form American Born Abroad birth certificate. I'd only ever seen my birth name written in the Greek alphabet.
My first-grade teacher turned to the entire class, laughed spitefully, and said, "Imagine that. Not being able to spell your own name."
Bruce, I sincerely doubt you ever had an experience like that.
I don't need to be more REAL than I am. My people were writing philosophy when yours were worshipping the grass snake and drinking each other's blood out of skullcaps. I instead need to get along with "the bumpkins," to quote Paul Revere's father for why he changed his own name from Apollos Rivioire when he moved to the New World.
I would definitely Americanize it. We supposedly live in a new, enlightened era, where people are not judged on their name, their color, their creed, being bald, fat, etc. This is completely untrue, in my experience. Scratch your typical Anglo-American type and watch the prejudices flow out in a torrent. If you're in any job that involves selling anything and ingratiating yourself to anyone, authenticity plays a distant fourth to likeability, likeability, likeability, in that order, and people like people who are like them, especially in Anglo-American culture.
Really? Ethnic names didn't seem to hold back Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, Indra Noori and countless others who have made it to the top echelons of American business. I never anglicized my name and honestly while I have encountered my share of racism I dont think my name ever held me back from any success.
Contractor/Investor/Consultant · San Diego / Phoenix · Member since 2021 · 12k+ posts · 15k+ votes
4y
@Jim K. Well - you do you then. It's not the 1960s anymore and the odds of the OP having issues because of her name are slim and none (and Slim just left town). I suspect that she can use her name to her advantage actually. You are doing her a huge disservice with your advice, just because of your childhood scars...
And this being America, the land of immigrants, you have no idea about my family's name issues from the past. But I choose to laugh at the stupidity of others and move forward....rather than dwell in the past and project that onto everyone.
I would definitely Americanize it. We supposedly live in a new, enlightened era, where people are not judged on their name, their color, their creed, being bald, fat, etc. This is completely untrue, in my experience. Scratch your typical Anglo-American type and watch the prejudices flow out in a torrent. If you're in any job that involves selling anything and ingratiating yourself to anyone, authenticity plays a distant fourth to likeability, likeability, likeability, in that order, and people like people who are like them, especially in Anglo-American culture.
Really? Ethnic names didn't seem to hold back Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, Indra Noori and countless others who have made it to the top echelons of American business. I never anglicized my name and honestly while I have encountered my share of racism I dont think my name ever held me back from any success.
LOL, Anish. I am not about to say anything negative about the towering accomplishments of Indian-Americans in this country compared to the size of their presence in this country. Yet I have no idea who Satya, Sundar, or Indra are without going to Google. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure you've heard of Bob Costas, Tina Fey, Ted Sarandos, and Elena Ford.
I would definitely Americanize it. We supposedly live in a new, enlightened era, where people are not judged on their name, their color, their creed, being bald, fat, etc. This is completely untrue, in my experience. Scratch your typical Anglo-American type and watch the prejudices flow out in a torrent. If you're in any job that involves selling anything and ingratiating yourself to anyone, authenticity plays a distant fourth to likeability, likeability, likeability, in that order, and people like people who are like them, especially in Anglo-American culture.
Really? Ethnic names didn't seem to hold back Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, Indra Noori and countless others who have made it to the top echelons of American business. I never anglicized my name and honestly while I have encountered my share of racism I dont think my name ever held me back from any success.
Probably correct, but for some it may be a comfort factor thing.
If America was as half as racist/"namist" as you say why the heck do all these people want to live here? American's by and large are some of the kindest most accepting people in the world. If we were an unaccepting people we would not have millions of folks paying to be smuggled into our country through our southern boarder, risking being raped and killed.
@Jim K. Well - you do you then. It's not the 1960s anymore and the odds of the OP having issues because of her name are slim and none (and Slim just left town). I suspect that she can use her name to her advantage actually. You are doing her a huge disservice with your advice, just because of your childhood scars...
And this being America, the land of immigrants, you have no idea about my family's name issues from the past. But I choose to laugh at the stupidity of others and move forward....rather than dwell in the past and project that onto everyone.
Bruce, your last name is Woodruff. So that's either Americanized or its origin is Anglo-Saxon, most likely the latter, with the original form quite likely Woldruf (from Anglo-Saxon). I've mentioned repeatedly here on BP that I'm a failed academic in English language and literature.
If America was as half as racist/"namist" as you say why the heck do all these people want to live here? American's by and large are some of the kindest most accepting people in the world. If we were an unaccepting people we would not have millions of folks paying to be smuggled into our country through our southern boarder, risking being raped and killed.
I'm not arguing that Americans are among the most accepting people of the world. Seriously, seven years after being attacked by sickos calling themselves Muslims, this country elected a man named "Barack Hussein Obama" to the highest office in the nation, and kept him in that office for the next eight years. Say what you will, it happened.
I'm arguing that it's always been a lot easier to get along if you change your name in this country. You could even think of it as an honored tradition that, as I mentioned, dates back to (more than one of) the Founding Fathers.
Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
4y
This is a linguistic argument, not a political one, and I'm not babbling about my unsupported feelings about this culture. If any of you have access to the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, you can follow along with David Crystal's argument that English-language cultures worldwide, also known as BANA (British, North American, Australian) have always been progressively less linguistically open than most other European-origin cultures since the Viking conquests.
The old joke says it all.
What do you call someone who speaks many languages? Polylingual. What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bilingual. What do you call someone who speaks one language? American.
I would definitely Americanize it. We supposedly live in a new, enlightened era, where people are not judged on their name, their color, their creed, being bald, fat, etc. This is completely untrue, in my experience. Scratch your typical Anglo-American type and watch the prejudices flow out in a torrent. If you're in any job that involves selling anything and ingratiating yourself to anyone, authenticity plays a distant fourth to likeability, likeability, likeability, in that order, and people like people who are like them, especially in Anglo-American culture.
Really? Ethnic names didn't seem to hold back Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, Indra Noori and countless others who have made it to the top echelons of American business. I never anglicized my name and honestly while I have encountered my share of racism I dont think my name ever held me back from any success.
LOL, Anish. I am not about to say anything negative about the towering accomplishments of Indian-Americans in this country compared to the size of their presence in this country. Yet I have no idea who Satya, Sundar, or Indra are without going to Google. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure you've heard of Bob Costas, Tina Fey, Ted Sarandos, and Elena Ford.
They are the CEOs of Microsoft, Google and Pepsi. Total market caps of over 2 Trillion Dollars. All Indian Americans. But Im sure there are other immigrants from other countries as well.
Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2021 · 5 posts · 11 votes
4y
@Sapir Simply hi Sapir! Your name is awesome and i dont think you should change it. Story time: I used to work as a nurse manager at a nursing home. I only would come in on weekends. Try as I might, I never could remember the names of the nurses or anyone for that matter. Until I met one patient who introduced himself with a big smile as "Alfredo, Alfredo Fettuccine!". My brain immediately linked him to the pasta we all enjoy. Here I am years later, his is the only name I remember. Im impressed by Alfredo's "branding". All of this to say, I think you should celebrate (and advertise) your name as "Sapir like Sapphire". I might even go as far as wearing something blue all the time. Hope it helps.
@Sapir Simply Hi. I read in a biography that early in his career, Arnold Schwarzenegger considered changing his name to Arnold Strong, to make it easier to remember and/or easier to say. Then he realized that unique names are actually easier to remember than common names. It worked out well for him. So, based on that, I suggest not changing your name.
This Arnold Schwarzenegger example is really an exception though. So many famous actors, musicians etc. HAVE changed their names or go by nicknames for their careers: Charlie Sheen (Carlos Estevez), Meghan Markle, Emma Stone, Blake Lively, Jonah Hill, Jude Law, Helen Mirren (Lydia Vasilievna Mironov), Brad Pitt, Ashton Kutcher, Miley Cyrus, Olivia Wilde, Natalie Portman (born in Israel with the last name Hershlag), Mindy Kaling (Vera Mindy Chokalingam), Whoopi Goldberg, Tina Fey, Elizabeth Banks, Jamie Foxx, Ben Kingsley (Krishna Bhanji), Nicholas Cage, Micheal Keaton, Meg Ryan, Reese Witherspoon, Gigi and Bella Hadid, John Legend, Louis C.K., Ralph Lauren (Lifshitz), Audrey Hepburn (Ruston), Rita Wilson, Bruno Mars, etc. etc. etc. as well as politicians like Nikki Haley (Nimrata Randhawa Haley), Bobby Jindal (Piyush Jindal), Ted Cruz (Rafael Edward Cruz), Gerald Ford (Leslie Lynch King, Jr.), Bill Clinton (William Jefferson Blythe III), Spiro Agnew (Spiro Theodore Anagnostopolous), Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram), Malcom X. Golda Meir, Nelson Mandela etc. etc. etc.
It seems there is a reason why many people choose to alter their names for their careers.
Real Estate Agent · West Olive, MI · Member since 2016 · 9 posts · 3 votes
4y
I have seen where people are using a preferred name long with their legal name. I am totally in favor of people using their given name though as that is what makes us all unique.
Real Estate Agent & Investor · Raleigh Durham Chapel Hill, NC · Member since 2020 · 44 posts · 30 votes
4y
Definitely keep your real name. In fact, I would brand using the color sapphire to emphasize it and consider using it as a one word name (like Madonna or Cher).
What do you call someone who speaks many languages? Polylingual. What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bilingual. What do you call someone who speaks one language? American.
One of the many benefits of being the BSD! haha.
First generation - Foreigners living in America Second generation - Live in two worlds Third generation - American
Pretty tough for immigrants to break this trend, no matter how hard they may try or where they come from. Seeing it like crazy in the Central Valley of California with our Mexican population right now. "How come you don't speak Spanish?" haha. Poor kids. I know how they feel because I wish I had a dollar for every time I've been asked why I don't speak Portuguese.
Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
4y
I really should mention that my legal first name is nine letters long and my legal last name is ten letters long. My wife's last name before marriage was 13 letters long. So according to keep your name and keep your "authentic self" types, should we have hyphenated? For maximum authenticity and to-thine-own-self-be-true branding, of course.
But then again, I understand you people. I have an friend with a four-letter last name whose wife named their kid Elliott. She gets all pissed off when someone takes off the last T. HOW DARE THEY!
Definitely keep your real name. In fact, I would brand using the color sapphire to emphasize it and consider using it as a one word name (like Madonna or Cher).
Metro NY + New Bedford · Member since 2022 · 294 posts · 216 votes
4y
Whatever gives you an advantage in dealing with Customers. Here in the Metro New York area, lots of people with Middle Eastern accents go by Mike, as in the name of the Prophet. Make it easy. "Sophie" is fine, So is "Sally" or "Sue". Chinese people rarely us their three syllable name, right?
Rental Property Investor · Bronx, NY · Member since 2017 · 152 posts · 65 votes
4y
Love the name ‘Sapir Simply’ even inverted it sounds unusually mind grabbing. With a name like that ppl will want to remember you, know you & possibly buy property’s from you if you’re any good of course. It brings conversation & for you great confidence in being the only Sapir Simply out there. Lead that legacy story starting w/your name.
Real Estate Agent · Chicago, IL · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
4y
Assuming your jewish tap into the jewish community to get clients. Im jewish and several of my biggest repeat clients are jewish. As others mentioned can put Sophie etc on bus card if prefer being called that.