I have a character who insists on being called [name_f]Lily[/name_f] Song. She’s a British teenager of [name_f]Asian[/name_f] descent, undecided on the country as the surname is used by both Korean and Chinese families. [name_f]Lily[/name_f] is her English name, she was named after her mother’s favourite flower, and she has a Chinese/Korean name as well.
Unfortunately, when I mentioned her name to my sister who was nosing at what I was writing, her reaction was “like [name_u]River[/name_u] Song?”
Let it be said that the two characters are nothing alike in personality, age, appearance or background, and nobody else in her family who also bears the same surname (parents and as-yet-unnamed brother) is in any way similar to the [name_m]Doctor[/name_m] Who character either. But is she too well known, and the surname too unusual, for me to use it?
Additionally, any input on which nationality to make the family would be helpful. It’s not crucial to the plot as to which one, but I need them to have left their native country for a social reason.
>Chinese: Parents left the country in the early 1980s as a young couple after the one child rule was introduced in 1979.
>Korean: Paternal grandparents fled the country as a young couple during the Korean war in the early 1950s, [name_f]Lily[/name_f]'s father was born in the UK but married a woman also of Korean parentage.
I don’t think you will have much of a problem. I think that the only people to see the connection are [name_m]Doctor[/name_m] Who fans such as myself, and it’s not even that big of a connection; its only a surname. Plus she’s of [name_f]Asian[/name_f] descent, so it would make sense. I think you’ll be fine.
When I first heard [name_u]River[/name_u] Song’s name, I thought [name_m]Steven[/name_m] Moffat was making the point that by the fifty-first century EVERYONE would have Chinese surnames. The alien translation explanation came later. I kind of prefer my original interpretation. So, don’t let [name_m]Doctor[/name_m] Who take the surname away from [name_f]Asia[/name_f]. They had it first.
Also, I would lean towards her being of Chinese descent, because there is a much stronger tradition of Chinese immigration to the UK and there are many more Chinese people here than Koreans. Because Hong Kong, probably.
I think it works, but to be honest, I did immediately think of Dr. [name_u]River[/name_u] Song (“Hello, Sweetie.”)
But it’s a legitimate surname that works with the ethnic background, so I think it works. Go for it! [name_u]River[/name_u] isn’t negative, and if the characters are nothing alike your readers will probably make a quick connection and then move on.