– There were some older people who reacted to it, while the young people think differently, says Magnus Zaza. Six years have passed since the 29-year-old took the step from Mahmoud to Magnus. He himself has two or three other friends who have changed their names after they came to Norway. news recently told about the difficulties faced by job applicants with foreign names. Applications with foreign-sounding names often do not get the same response as applications with “typically Norwegian names”. Magnus clarifies that there were no tactical reasons why he changed his name, but that he hoped that it would facilitate integration. – I had a name that was difficult for many people to pronounce, he explains. Zaza fled the war in his home country and came to Norway in 2015. Today he lives in Florø, and is a permanent engineer at the electric boat manufacturer Evoy. With a great interest in chess, and Magnus Carlsen as an example, the Norwegian name gave itself. The name Magnus. Photo: Nikolai Akse Helgås/news Job applicants with foreign names are discriminated against In Norway there are no figures on how many people change their name to something more Norwegian-sounding. – But it is relatively widespread, says associate professor Arnfinn Midtbøen at the Department of Sociology and Social Geography at the University of Oslo. He has carried out two studies – ten years apart – which show that a foreign name reduces the likelihood of being called in for a job interview by around 25 per cent. news has mentioned several times that job applicants with foreign names are discriminated against, as Fafo documented in 2012. In 2019, the Minister for Local Government and Modernization Monica Mæland launched a trial project with anonymous job applications in several government agencies. The state recruited approximately 20,000 new employees each year in various agencies. Midtbøen has no reason to believe that Syrians have a greater tendency than other immigrant groups to change their name to something more Norwegian-sounding. In working on this case, news has been in contact with several Syrian families where all or parts of the family have changed their names. – The name change came about because we thought it would make it easier for our children to enter the labor market, says the mother in one of the families. Reactions from the Syrian environment, and from Norwegians, means that she does not want to come forward. – Only helps you with the first impression For Magnus Zaza, it was not relevant to change his surname because “Zaza” is something that sounds good in several languages. – But changing your name only helps you with the first impression, he says. Although the reason for the name change was to be more easily integrated into society, Zaza points out that it is “you that people see, not your name”. – The rest is up to you, whether your name is Magnus or something else. A later version stated that Magnus Zaza was an engineering trainee at Evoy. He is currently a permanent engineer. The article was corrected on Sunday 14.08.22 at 21:58.
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Here sits Syrian Mahmoud (7) – today his name is Magnus – news Vestland
