On Monday (Oct 26), Hongkong stars Tavia Yeung and Him Law surprised many when they announced they had changed their Chinese names. Tavia, 41, is now known as Yeung Sin Yiu, instead of Yeung Yi, while her husband Law Chung Him, 36, will now go by Law Chi Yat.

Following the announcement, there were speculations that the couple had enlisted the help of a fortune teller and changed their names in hopes that it would help them conceive a son. Their reasoning? The middle character in Him’s new name Chi has the same pronunciation as son in Chinese.

During a promotional event for his new drama The Witness on Wednesday (Oct 28), Him clarified that they had not intended to change their names and that it was “by fate” that they met with a fortune teller.

And unlike rumours, they did not do so to boost their chances of bearing a son. “We’ll leave that to fate. [We chose the names] solely because of the strokes and the calculations of the five elements. However, some friends pointed out to us that when spoken in Mandarin, my new name has a ‘yi’ [like Tavia’s previous name]; while my wife’s new name has a ‘qian’ [like my previous name],” said Him, adding that they had changed their names for a while already.

He continued: “Some people are wondering why we are doing this after being in showbiz for so many years, but I think Him Him is going to grow up too. And the name Uncle Him is not so nice.”

Him insisted that the change is for the good of the elderly in their family and that everyone is very supportive of it.

He shared that he hopes his new name will also bring luck to his career, and that Tavia, whose last drama was 2018’s Another Era, would like to return to work soon but she can’t “get away” from their six-month-old daughter Kera.

He added that the couple is open to working together and might even rope in their daughter too. “But it will be expensive,” he laughed.

Photos: Him Law, Tavia Yeung/Instagram