chinese-name

ChineseNameAnna•Theorigin•Theformation•Baijiaxing•HowtoaddressChinese•SomeinterestingnamesTheOriginofChineseNames•Theoriginalpurposeofgivingeachpersonanamewasforconvenience.•Ancientpeoplefoundthatwheneveritwasdark,theycouldn'tseeeachotherandtheycouldn'ttellwho'swho.Ifeachpersonwasgivenaname,sothattheycouldaddresseachothereasily,eveninthedark.TheFormationofChineseNames•familyname•Chinesename•givenname(firstname)•nickname•Differentkindsofnamesformalname•pennameFamilyName•Xing(姓)：“姜”(Jiang),“姚”(Yao),“马”(ma)•Familyname•Shi(氏)：“周”(Zhou),“楚”(Chu),“陶”(Tao)姜：羊/女•Theoriginsofshi(氏):•reigntitlesorfeoffssuchas“赵”(Zhao)•titles:“王”(Wang),“侯”(Hou)•occupation:“屠”(Tu),“贾”(Gu)•placetheylived:“李”(Li),“西门”(Ximen)•nationalities:“宇文”(Yuwen),“慕容”(Murong)•Differencebetween“xing”and“shi”•Xingreflectedthebloodrelationshipofmarriage•Shiindicatedfeoffsorprofessionswhichmanifestedpeople’ssocialstatus.•AftertheQinDynasty(221BC-206BC),xingandshigraduallymergedtogether.BaiJiaXing•ThereusedtobeapopulartextbookforchildrentolearnChinesecharacters,whichwascalled“BaiJiaXing”(AHundredChineseFamilyNames).•ThebookwaswrittenintheSongDynasty(960-1279AD).Actually,thefamilynamesinthattimeweremuchmorethanonehundred.Accordingtosomeexpertstherearearound1500familynamesinChinabutaroundonehundredofthemwerecommonlyused.•Themostpopularfamilynamesareasfollows:Li,Wang,Zhang,Liu,Chen,Yang,Zhao,Huang,Zhou,Wu,Xu,Sun,Hu,Zhu,Gao,Lin,He,GuoandMa.GivenName•ForChinesegivennames,theyalwaysbearaspecialmeaning.Thestyleofthegivennamesvariedindifferentperiodsandsocialclasses.•Ageneration’sbeliefscanbefoundingivennamesduringthatperiod.NamesarealsohelpfulinunderstandingChinesecharactersandculture.Itisverycommontohearpeoplesay:“Youhaveaverygoodname.”ortoask:“Whatcharactersareusedinyournameandwhatdotheymean?”Likethewesterncountries,thesurnamesweresymbolofthefamilyandtheywerehandeddownfromancestors.Butgivennamescanbetakenasindicationsoftheparents’hopefortheirchildren.AlotofChinesestillbelievethatthegivennamescaninfluencethechildren’sfateandfuture.Sotheyalwaysfindgoodcharacterstonametheirchildren.•Thecharacterssuchas•“Wen”(文meansintelligence),•“Wu”(武meansmartial),•“Ming”(明meansbrightness),•“Jie”(杰meansoutstanding),•“Long”(龙meansdragon),•“Hu”(虎meanstiger),•“Xin”(信meansfaith),•“Zhi”(智meanswisdom),•“Yi”(义meansjustice)and•“li”(礼meanscourtesy)•“Lan”(兰meansorchid),•“Fang”(芳meansfragrance),•“Zhu”(珠meanspearl),•“Ya”(雅meanselegance),•“Xiu”(秀meansbeautiful),•“Ling”(灵meansclever),•“Hua”(华meansglory),•“Hong”(红meansred),•“zhen”(贞meanschastity),•“Shu”(淑meansgentle),•“Jing”(静meansquiet),•“Mei”(梅meansplum)•“Ju”(菊meanschrysanthemum)•Thegivennamesalsohavethetraitoftimes.InfeudaltimepeoplealwayschoosethewordsfromConfucianClassicsfornames.During1950s-1970salotofpeopleusedthewordssuchas“Jianguo”(建国meansestablishastate),“Wenge”(文革meanstheculturalrevolution),“Xiangdong”(向东meanstowardseast),“Hongwei”(红卫meansredguard),“Zhenhua”(振华meansprosperChina)fornames.•Whenchoosethefirstnamestheyneverusethesamewordsorevensimilarpronunciationswiththeireldergenerations’firstnames.•Itisaserioustaboo.Infeudaltimesnootherpeoplecouldusethewordsoftheemperor’sfirstnamefortheirfirstnames.Inancienttimewhenwomengotmarriedtheywouldtaketheirhusbands’familynamebutthatdoesn’thappennowinChina.Forthechildren,mostofthemtaketheirfather’sfamilyname.Butitisacceptableforthemtotaketheirmother’sfamilynameinnowdays.HowtoAddressChinesePeople•Notveryfamiliar:notcalltheirfirstnames,calltheirfamilynameswithMr.orMrs.aheadinordertoshowrespect.•Inthecompany:callthepeoplewiththeirtitlessuchas“DirectorYangorDeputyLi.”•Forfriends：calltheirfirstnames.Itisatabootocalltheseniorgeneration’sfirstnames.•YoungerElder:accordingtotheirformalrolewithinfamiliessuchaselderbrother,cousin,sister-in-lawandsoforth.HowChineseAddressEachOther•LiHuiLan(李蕙兰)•XiaoLan(小兰)•LiHuiLan(李蕙兰)ALan(阿兰)•HuiLan(蕙兰)•XiaoLi(小李)•HuangYuePo(黄雪坡)•YuePo(雪坡)•HuangYuePo(黄雪坡)XiaoHuang(小黄)•LaoHuang(老黄)HuangMaZi(黄麻子)SomeInterestingChineseFormalNames•“ChenBaiWan’’(陈百万)：Chenishisfamilyname.BaiWanmeansmillionaireinChinese;•“WangDaFa”(王大发)：DaFainhisnameindicatesmakingabigfortune.•“WuYouMu”(吴有木),YouMuinthenamemeanshavewood.Themanmaylackwoodinhisfate.•“LiWeiDong”(李卫东)：WeiHongmeansdefendingtheredpoliticalpower;•“ZhengWenGe”(郑文革)：“WenGe”means“culturalrevolution”.•“NingZhaoDi”（宁招娣）：Shemaybethefirstonechildofthefamilyorherparentshavegivenbirthtoseveralgirlsbeforeher,theywantaboyafterhersotheynameherWantingBrother,thisisconsideredagoodwish;•ZhaoLaiFu,LaiFuinthenamedenoteshappinesscoming;QianWangCai,WangCaimeansprosperousandwealthy,SunGuoQing,GuoQingmeansNationalDay,solongasyoumeetamanwhosenameisGuoQingyoucandrawtheconclusionwithoutquestionthathisbirthdayisOctoberfirst(theNationalDayofChina).Inaddition,someChineseparentsnametheirchildrenaccordingtothe12zodiacalanimals.Forinstance,SongShaSha(宋莎莎),agirl'sname.Theradicals艹and氵inthecharacter莎standforgrassandwaterinChineserespectively.Soyoucanmakeoutthegirl'sanimalsignsareox,horseorsheep.