This feature is part of CNN Style’s new series Hyphenated, which explores the complex issue of identity among minorities in the United States.

Tshab Her grew up feeling like she lived a double life.

Like many Asian Americans, the 29-year-old Hmong American artist was always switching between two names: an Asian name and her “American” name.

Jennifer, her legal first name, was what teachers and employers called her, and what she used in “White spaces,” she said. But her middle name Tshab, which means “new” in the Hmong language, was what her family and close friends called her within their small community in Aurora, Illinois.

The Hmong ethnic group is spread across China and Southeast Asia, but most Hmong Americans — like Her’s parents — are refugees from Laos who fled during the Vietnam War.

“When I went as Jennifer, I felt like I was playing a role — this White-assimilated, American Dream type,” said Her, now based in Chicago. “Tshab and Jennifer were always at tension with each…