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Changing my Slovak Name to Hit the American Market

TopDirective

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Dear Fastlaners!

My real name is Matej P., which is impossible for 98% of non-Slovak/Czech people to pronounce correctly.

I am planning to go international, give consultation calls and possibly do more online courses. For the longest time I was thinking the change my name, until I realized the time is now.

After numerous variations and selections, I came up with "Matthew Peckney". It has the same initials and Matthew directly translates to Matej.

Previously I would have numerous videogame nicknames, but this time I want to be taken seriously and appeal professionally, given that my advice would be up to such level.

After analyzing over 50 personal brand names I found that they have 1.6 syllables in first name and 2.0 syllables in surname in average. Also the leaders of big companies usually have shorter first name, e.g. Robbins becomes Rob. Overall they are what we in Slovak call euphonic or melodious, and easy to remember, understand and pronounce.

From days of thinking and doing research I came up with the following cons/pros:

Benefits:
- Easier to pronounce for the US market
- Free domain and social media names (already bought peckney.com)
- I can see myself creating branches off Peckney

Cons:
- Possibly too long? Compared to Tai Lopez for example
- Possibly harder to spell for non-US

What do you guys think? Ever had a dilemma like this? Any suggestions on the first name
1f642.png
 
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Lex DeVille

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Dear Fastlaners!

My real name is Matej P., which is impossible for 98% of non-Slovak/Czech people to pronounce correctly.

I am planning to go international, give consultation calls and possibly do more online courses. For the longest time I was thinking the change my name, until I realized the time is now.

After numerous variations and selections, I came up with "Matthew Peckney". It has the same initials and Matthew directly translates to Matej.

Previously I would have numerous videogame nicknames, but this time I want to be taken seriously and appeal professionally, given that my advice would be up to such level.

After analyzing over 50 personal brand names I found that they have 1.6 syllables in first name and 2.0 syllables in surname in average. Also the leaders of big companies usually have shorter first name, e.g. Robbins becomes Rob. Overall they are what we in Slovak call euphonic or melodious, and easy to remember, understand and pronounce.

From days of thinking and doing research I came up with the following cons/pros:

Benefits:
- Easier to pronounce for the US market
- Free domain and social media names (already bought peckney.com)
- I can see myself creating branches off Peckney

Cons:
- Possibly too long? Compared to Tai Lopez for example
- Possibly harder to spell for non-US

What do you guys think? Ever had a dilemma like this? Any suggestions on the first name
1f642.png

I changed my name back in 2012. Some considerations I had were:

- What purpose does the name serve?
- How adaptable is it?
- Who will people imagine when they say it?
- What other associations will they make?
- What name will align with how I see myself?
- Will people like it, be surprised by it?

The name you've picked sounds smart. Has a sort of financial vibe. That might be good if you're giving financial advice. Are you building a personal brand? If not then maybe the name isn't as important. If you want to be taken seriously, sell quality products.

Pick a name you like. Something you can live with for a while.
 

TopDirective

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Thank you your for feedback.

Lex, thank you for the factors, I will include them in my decision.

The problem with my current name is that is pronounced as Matyej Patzaan with a's as in the word 'car' and so people get confused when I tell it.


The weighting factors for me are:
  1. .com domain availability
  2. Will it create a strong YouTube name?
  3. How difficult it is to spell it when heard, and vice versa.
  4. My purpose: online marketing, programming, video-courses, crypto trading bots, self-improvement mobile apps, finances, ... something that builds trust and power
When it comes to technicals, these are some observations from personal research © and psychology sources:
  • Vowel variation a-i-o-e somehow makes it easier to remember for the brain
    • Possibly a-i-o or a-i-o, o-i-o as well (e.g. Mario Tomic)
  • Short first name pulls better, i.e. Matt instead of Matthias or Matthew (= easier for the brain)
  • Surname 2-3 syllables max (Csikszentmihalyi --> Chiksent --> Chicks, Peckney --> Peck (but the domain is taken) )
Here are some free domains (underlined ones I like):
  • peckney.com (I bought it actually)
  • matthewpeckney.com
  • mattpatan.com
  • matthewpatan.com
  • mattpatzan.com
  • matejpace.com (but again, Matej is tough to pronounce)
  • matthewpecken.com
  • matthewpeco.com
  • mattpeco.com (bought the domain)
  • matthewpenn.com
  • mattpatan.com
  • mattpoke.com
 
Last edited:

The Abundant Man

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I used to work as a teacher at this private school in Korea. Everybody had english names. I thought it was really weird. I kept calling everybody by their native korean names.

I talked to the administration about it. They told me I could only call them by their English names and to only talk to them in English.

The end goal was to graduate from the school and go to Trinity Bible College in Florida to get the American education and experience.

I was like whatever.

More American Globalization I guess. "You must assimilate"

My Dentist in Korea had a degree from Columbia University. lol

Korea was a blast though. I notice it was all these Europeans who travel around. Only Americans I ever saw was some US Soldier or English Teacher. It was usually some European or some guy from India.

Apparently Americans never travel.
 
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TopDirective

Contributor
User Power
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Nov 15, 2017
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95
I used to work as a teacher at this private school in Korea. Everybody had english names. I thought it was really weird. I kept calling everybody by their native korean names.

I talked to the administration about it. They told me I could only call them by their English names and to only talk to them in English.

The end goal was to graduate from the school and go to Trinity Bible College in Florida to get the American education and experience.

I was like whatever.

More American Globalization I guess. "You must assimilate"

My Dentist in Korea had a degree from Columbia University. lol

Korea was a blast though. I notice it was all these Europeans who travel around. Only Americans I ever saw was some US Soldier or English Teacher. It was usually some European or some guy from India.

Apparently Americans never travel.
Thanks for sharing!

Matthew Perry might be better imo
I like that one, unfortunately both mattperry and matthewperry are taken, and Matthew Perry is a famous person already.
 

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