History Main / MultiethnicName

** Every once in a while, you can find names in different languages that sound close enough together to be switched out in order to fit in better depending on where you are; Chinese men with the given names of "Zhang" or "Li" can easily go by "John" or "Lee" amongst English-speakers without actually changing their names. Hence TheReveal at the end of
* KeanuReeves' given name is Hawai'ian. ** Hawaii is a concentrated example of this trope having a very mixed population where "everyone is a minority" meaning no single race or culture comprises more than %50 of the population. This results in elaborate mixing of Japanese, Hawaiian, and American names. Also some random and made-up names just for fun.
''ShanghaiNoon'' being Jackie Chan's character having a PunnyName: Zhang Wang.[[hottip:*: "John Wayne"]]

* KeanuReeves' given name is Hawai'ian.

** Every once in a while, you can find names in different languages that sound close enough together to be switched out in order to fit in better depending on where you are; Chinese men with the given names of "Zhang" or "Li" can easily go by "John" or "Lee" amongst English-speakers without actually changing their names. Hence TheReveal at the end of ''ShanghaiNoon'' being Jackie Chan's character having a PunnyName: Zhang Wang.[[hottip:*: "John Wayne"]]

* Of interesting note, baseball pitcher Bruce (Scottish) Chen (Chinese). You'd never guess where he's from. [[spoiler: Panama]]

*** Likewise her son, Kirayoshi O'Brien.

* Miguel O'Hara aka [[{{Marvel 2099}} Spider-Man 2099]]

* Juan Lebedev in ''VideoGame/DeusEx''. According to the Deus Ex Bible, at one point in the series' universe [[TheMafiya the Russian Mafia]] and [[TheCartel the Mexican drug cartels]] formed a powerful alliance that rivalled each of their countries' respective governments, thus probably explaining his heritage.

* Juan Lebedev in ''VideoGame/DeusEx''. According to the Deus Ex Bible, at one point [[TheMafiya the Russian Mafia]] and [[TheCartel the Mexican drug lords]] formed a powerful alliance that rivalled each of their countries' respective governments, thus probably explaining his heritage.

* Agent Graham Tanaka on ''Dollhouse'', played by MarkSheppard. The part was originally written with an Asian actor in mind, and Sheppard wanted to keep the name. The WordOfGod explanation is that he took the name of his stepfather.

* Agent Graham Tanaka on ''Dollhouse'', played by MatthewSheppard. The part was originally written with an Asian actor in mind, and Sheppard wanted to keep the name. The WordOfGod explanation is that he took the name of his stepfather.

* This happens sometimes on ''[[BabylonFive Babylon 5]]'', like ISN reporter Derek Mobotabwe, who is a white guy.

* [[PaniPoniDash Rebecca Miyamoto]], an 11-year-old with a PhD from MIT.

* CiaphasCain, '''[[RunnningGag HERO OF THE IMPERIUM]]''' had a fencing instructor in school named [[MiyamotoMusashi Miyamoto]] [[CyranoDeBergerac de Bergerac]].

* AlastairReynolds' works often feature this trope, e. g. Ana Khouri, Xavier Liu, Gillian Sluka, Pauline Sukhoi, etc.

* [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Light Yagami]] of ''DeathNote''.

* This trope is a ''lot'' more common than you might think in the United States, where most people in urban or suburban settings are of mixed descent to some extent. Any matchup of a name like "James" or "John" with an Italian last name counts -- and, technically, unless the guy in question is a "Seamus" or "Sean", the same goes for Irish surnames, too (although since Ireland has been effectively anglicized for centuries, the dissonance is lost on modern listeners). For girls, names like "Juanita" and "Yolanda" are relatively common across all ethnic lines.

* The City Wok in ''SouthPark'' is owned by Tuong Lu Kim, whose name is Vietnamese-Chinese-Korean. However, it is later revealed that [[Spoiler:he is actually one of the personalities of the insane Dr. Janus]].

* Grace Nakimura in ''GabrielKnight''. Her parents were Japanese, but they emigrated to the United States before she was born.