How sinologists choose their Chinese names

Dutch Sinologist Annelous Stiggelbout. [Photo by Jiang Wanjuan/chinadaily.com.cn]

Annelous Stiggelbout, translator and Sinologist from the Netherlands.

My Chinese name is Shi Lu (史露). I read the surname 'Shi' in a story by Liu Xinbin, that I had read in translation. Since it sounded a little bit like my Dutch surname, I asked my teacher if I could have Shi for a Chinese surname. She said there were two different Shi: 施 or 史, and that 施 suited my given name lu (露) best, so I picked that one. Much later I found out that the surname of the girl in the story was actually 石. I'm quite happy with my name!