Chinese educated people taking English names

Being Chinese educated myself, I naturally mix with many people for whom English is not their first language. Due to this they have not had an English name since birth, instead having to take one for themselves later in life. Some of them have wisely consulted me before picking an English name and so got something lovely. Unfortunately, many have not had such good sense, causing them to pick rather... unorthodox names such as "Apple", "Fish" and "Flower". My personal favorite was when one girl told me her name was "Kinky" (Kinki? could not ascertain spelling), upon which it took all my willpower to keep from laughing to her face.

Though we may laugh now at such naming choices, it is in a way not surprising. The plain fact is at the beginning of a language being developed, its users tend to pick rather literal names for themselves - for example Native American names such as Howling Wolf or Spirit Eagle. Suddenly "Fish" doesn't sound so outlandish any more right?

In fact most "modern" English names have literal meanings. "Bernard" means "bear", while "Calvin" means "bald". Smith and Archer, both common surnames, are self-explanatory. Avril Lavigne's Avril means "April" in French. Judging by this, I would say taking names such as "Apple" or "Flower" aren't so strange at all, especially considering that there are people named "Flora", which is simply flower in Latin.

However "Kinky" is still unacceptable no matter how you cut it.