UK Officials’ Cantonese Names: A Home-Grown Tradition

施紀賢文翠珊？英國高官自己起嘅粵語漢名

UK prime ministers and senior officials have long been given down-to-earth Chinese names — think Sir Keir Starmer (施紀賢), Theresa May (文翠珊), as well as figures such as Nicola Sturgeon, Jeremy Hunt, and Liz Truss.

So who actually came up with these names — Hongkongers, or the British side itself?

The answer appears to lie with the British civil service. According to some accounts, British civil servants serving in Hong Kong took it upon themselves to adopt Cantonese-style Chinese names, reflecting a practice initiated on the British side.

During the colonial era, Hongkongers commonly referred to the Governor as gwailou(鬼佬) and the Queen as gwailou po(鬼婆) — old Hong Kong slang roughly meaning “the foreign man/lady,” reflecting the distance locals felt from British rulers.

英國首相及高官都有接地氣嘅漢家姓名，比如施紀賢（現任）、文翠珊、施雅晴、夏文達、卓思慧……

究竟係香港佬給他們起名還是英方自己搞的？

答案係英國公務員，都要起一個粵語發音的漢名，係英方自發行為

英治時期，香港人稱港督係鬼頭，英國女王係鬼婆、老虔婆