...at such times it's nice to know that people can have the same trouble in English. 'You mean Harry and Hal are the same person, and they're both Henry?' Yup. At times the English can be worse than the Russians. Cultures that can get, respectively, Sandy or Sasha out of Alexander mustn't carp at a courtesy name or two-- though by me, 避諱 (taboo hanzi) are another matter entirely. I mean, if you're hoping your son will become emperor, do not give him a name with two of the most common characters in it, guys, that no one can use thereafter.
OTOH I wish I'd known about taboo name hanzi when reading 12K, because the country naming fashion then becomes much more rational.
ETA: Oh! Oh! Just noticed again qwerty's smrterthanu. Yes, oh yes oh yes yes yessss.
