This ain't Kansas, Dorothy...

My all time favorite was an engineer who did live in Kansas. His name: Saw Kok Pee.

That Is So They Can Outsource More Work To India

Each of them will be in responsible charge of about a thousand junior engineers.

The test is that they can "read and write the English language" not actually speak it.

Just theorizing.

Paul in PA

Not sure if it is America either, Use to be in NY you had to be a US citizen to obtain licensure, well not anymore. The Feds sued NYS and won and now it is no longer mandatory.

http://www.rbj.net/print_article.asp?aID=192205

and a follow up from the state board found here
http://www.op.nysed.gov/

Advisory Notices:
U.S. Court of Appeals Decision on Litigation Involving 13 Professions that Require U.S. Citizenship or Permanent Lawful Residence for Licensure: Please be advised that in accordance with the decision of the United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, in Dandamudi v Tisch, No. 10-4397- CV, 2012 WL 2763281 (July 10, 2012), we will consider applications for licenses from individuals who would otherwise be barred from licensure by statutory requirements of citizenship or permanent residency, in one the following professions:
•Certified Shorthand Reporting
•Chiropractic
•Dentistry
•Dental Hygiene
•Landscape Architecture
•Land Surveying
•Massage Therapy
•Medicine
•Midwifery
•Pharmacy
•Professional Engineering
•Veterinary Medicine
•Veterinary Technology
If you believe you meet these requirements, please submit an application for licensure to the Department and we will process your application accordingly. However, please be advised that the period for seeking further review from the U.S. Supreme Court has not lapsed.
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> The test is that they can "read and write the English language" not actually speak it.

> Not sure if it is America either, Use to be in NY you had to be a US citizen to obtain licensure, well not anymore.

Both of these statements take a lot for granted.

First off (as someone who sort of has one), an unusual name is not an indicator of how well one can speak and/or read English.

Nor is it an reliable indicator of the citizenship status of a person.

I've worked with dozens of people over the years with similar names who had been naturalized long ago. I've also worked with people with similar names who were educated in London, and spoke "the King's English" as well as any native.

> I've also worked with people with similar names who were educated in London, and spoke "the King's English" as well as any native.

With a name like Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, how can you expect this guy to read, write, and speak the King's English 😉

Probably does more properly than we do, even if he has an accent.B-)

This ain't Porbandar or Lhasa, Dorothy...

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso (Dalai Lama)

Names.... ha!

> With a name like Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, how can you expect this guy to read, write, and speak the King's English 😉

It took me a half second.......:-P

(Let's not get into his opinions on female writers......:-O :-O :-O )

or Islamic

I have seen a couple of instances where immigrant professionals have taken their profession for a new last name. There is a doctor in Midland named Dolly Doctor and there are two guys on the Texas Engineering Board Roster named on the Dinesh Engineer and Hosang Engineer. No Mr. Surveyors in Texas that I am aware of yet.

I once had to meet an engineer in the field. They told me to look for "Jim Wilson".

I walked into the field office where there was a south Asian guy with a beard and a turban, and told him I was looking for Jim Wilson.

In an accent I can't give justice to here (I wish I had a recording of it), he said

"I AM Jeeemm Weeelson!"

Turned out he had taken on Jim Wilson as a middle name, and used it professionally.

On the flipside, I go by Andulu in Mandarin Chinese. Not my choice, that's how it translates.

> I have seen a couple of instances where immigrant professionals have taken their profession for a new last name.

Wouldn't be the first time. Below are some names that came from occupations I found on the internets....

Archer - millitary man who fought with bow and arrow, Armour - made arms and armour, Baker
Barber
Barker - tanned hides with bark
Bellows - bellows maker, or one who operated the huge bellows in the forge
Boardman - cut timber into boards
Bowman
Brewer
Brewster - female brewer
Carpenter
Carter - transported merchandise in a cart
Cartwright - made carts
Carver
Chandler - candle maker (also, ship's chandler, who purveyed ship's supplies
Clark - clerk
Cooper
Crocker - made pottery crocks
Currier - dressed leather after tanning
Cutler - made knives and scissors
Draper - drapery maker
Falconer - raised and trained falcons (a very significant occupation in Medieval times)
Farmer
Fisher - fisherman
Forrester - lumberman
Fowler - trapped small birds
Fuller
Gardner (Gardiner) - cultivated vegetable and flower garden
Glazier - glass worker
Glover - glovemaker
Goldsmith
Hooper - the hoop maker for barrels.
Horner - hornsmith (made cups, ladles & spoons, etc. of horn)
Keeler - barge tender
Loomis - loom maker
Mason - stone cutter or worker
Miller (Mueller, Moeller, Muller) - one who ran the grain mill.
Minor
Naylor - nailmaker
Packman - peddler
Painter
Pearlman - dealer in pearls
Pittman (Pitman) worked down in the pit with the pitsaw
Plummer
Potter
Roper - ropemaker
Saddler
Sailor
Sandler - sandalmaker
Sawyer
Seaman - worked on a ship
Shearer - sheared wool from sheep
Shepherd
Shoemaker
Skinner
Slater -
Smith (Schmidt, Schmitt, Schmid, Smythe) - blacksmith
Stoner - mason
Tanner
Taylor
Thatcher
Turner
Tyler - made and sold tiles
Wagner (Wagoner) - made or drove wagons
Wainwright - made wagons
Waterman - boat operator, ferryman
Weaver
Webster - female weaver
Wheeler - made wheels or spinning wheels
Wheelwright
Woodward - forest warden
FROM THE CHURCH:
Abbott
Alderman
Bishop
Cannon
Chaplin
Parson
Sexton

Our local Chinese hand laundry was run by a guy named Ollie Olsen.

Seems that he was in line for immigration behind a guy named Ollie Olsen, and when they asked him his name he said, "Sam Ting". So they wrote down Ollie Olsen.