The Anglicization of Names Amongst the 2nd Generation of Sri Lankan Canadian Tamils in Toronto: an Autoethnographic Inquiry

This paper presents an autoethnographic analysis of experiences related to the Anglicization of my name as well as those whom I have encountered within the Sri Lankan Tamil community here in Toronto. Through an in-depth analysis of articles related to the historical Anglicization of immigrant names as well as an analysis of the autoethnographic piece, I argue that the Anglicization of Tamil names amongst the 2nd generation of Sri Lankan Tamils living in Toronto is due to the internalization of deficiency (Y.Guo, 2015) and is done to maintain one’s habitus. This deficiency internalization is experienced through socialization in various social fields such as academia and the labour market where it can be understood that members of the 2nd generation, as well as immigrants in general, are taught early on that their cultural dispositions are inferior (S. Guo, 2015, p.11). These will be explored in greater depth throughout this study.