It's "@" Baby
A Chinese couple tried to name their baby "@," claiming the character used in e-mail addresses echoed their love for the child, a government official told Reuters on Thursday. According to the article, the name stands out especially in Chinese, which uses tens of thousands of multi-stroke characters to represent words.
Deputy chief of the State Language Commission, Li Yuming, told reporters that the name was an extreme example of citizens' increasingly adventurous approach to Chinese, as commercialization and the Internet break down conventions. Li did not say if officials accepted the "@" name.
Incidentally, the Chinese couple isn't the first to have that idea. For years, I have signed my e-mails with "@," rather than my full name -- and have been given a collection of "@" tchotchkes to prove it (potholders, magnets, bookends, etc).
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