'Personal
names' in '
Chinese culture' follow a number of conventions different from those of personal names in
Western cultures. Most noticeably, a Chinese name is written with the
family name (surname or last name) first and the
given name next, therefore "John Smith" as a Chinese name would be "Smith John". For instance, the basketball player who is commonly called
Yao Ming would be addressed as "Mr. Yao", not "Mr. Ming".
Some
Chinese people who emigrate to, or do business with, Western countries sometimes adopt a Westernized name by simply reversing the "surname–given-name" order to "given-name–surname" ("Ming Yao", to follow the previous example), or with a Western first name together with their surname, which is then written in the usual Western order with the surname last ("Fred Yao"). Other Chinese people sometimes take a combined name, consisting of Western first name, surname, and Chinese given name, in that order ("Fred Yao Ming"), mostly in
Hong Kong, or in the order of Western first name, Chinese given name, and surname ("Fred Ming Yao").
Traditional naming schemes often followed a pattern of using
generation names as part of a two-character given name; however, this is less used today, especially in
Mainland China, where many given names use only one character. However, it is still the norm among the Chinese populations of
Singapore,
Taiwan,
Hong Kong and
Malaysia.
When generation names are used as part of a two-character given name, it is highly inappropriate and confusing to refer to someone by the first part of their given name only which will generally be their generation name. Instead, 'the entire given name should be used'. This should be the case regardless of whether the surname is used. For instance, referring to
Singaporean Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong as Hsien or Hsien Lee would be confusing as this could just as easily refer to his brother. However, this does commonly occur in Western societies where the first part of the given name is frequently mistakenly used as the first name when the given name is not hypenated or adjoined.
In addition to the given name, many Chinese have various kinds of nicknames (see
Alternative name).
Family names
Main articles: Chinese surname
The Chinese name system is the original pattern of names in Eastern Asia. In fact, all countries in Eastern Asia have followed the Chinese name system. Today, there are over 700 different
Chinese family names, but as few as twenty cover a majority of Chinese people. The variety in Chinese names therefore depends greatly on given names rather than family names. The great majority of Chinese family names have only one
character, but there are a few with two; see
Chinese compound surname for more information.
Chinese family names are written first, something which often causes confusion among those from cultures where the family name usually comes last. Thus, the family name of
Mao Zedong is Mao (毛), and his given name is Zedong (traditional: 澤東, simplified: 泽东).
Married Chinese women, in modern times, usually retain their maiden names as their
family name, rather than the adopted name of their husband — this is almost universal in the People's Republic of China (PRC) — and children usually inherit the father's family name. Historically, it was considered
taboo to marry someone with the same family name — even if there is no direct relationship between those concerned--though in recent decades this has no longer been frowned upon.
Given names
Main articles: Chinese given name
Generally speaking,
Chinese given names have one or two
characters, and are written after the family name. When a baby is born, parents often give him or her a "milk name" or "little name," such as ''Little Treasure'' (小寶/ 小宝) or two characters that repeat (明明). The given name is then usually chosen later and is often chosen with consultation of the grandparents. In China, parents have a month before having to register the child. The parents may continue to use the nickname.
With a limited repertoire of family names, Chinese depend on using given names to introduce variety in naming. Almost any character with any meaning can be used. However, it is not considered appropriate to name a child after a famous figure and highly offensive after an older member among the family or even distant relatives.
Given names resonant of qualities which are perceived to be either masculine or feminine are frequently given, with males being linked with strength and firmness, and females with beauty and flowers. Females sometimes have names which repeat a character, for example Xiuxiu (秀秀) or Lili (麗麗, 丽丽). This is less common in males, although
Yo-Yo Ma (馬友友 Mǎ Yǒuyǒu, 马友友) is a well-known exception.
In some families, one of the two characters in the personal name is shared by all members of a generation and these
generational names are worked out long in advance, historically in a
poem listing the names
[1]. Also, siblings' names are frequently related, for example, a boy may be named ''pine'' (松, considered masculine) while his sister may be named ''plum'' (梅, considered feminine), both being primary elements of the traditional Chinese system of naturally symbolizing moral imperatives.
Chinese personal names also may reflect periods of
history. For example, many Chinese born during the
Cultural Revolution have "revolutionary names" such as ''strong country'' (強國, 强国) or ''eastern wind'' (東風, 东风). In
Taiwan, it used to be common to incorporate one of the four characters of the name "
Republic of China" (中華民國) into masculine names.
A recent trend has swept through greater China to let fortune tellers change people's names years after they have been given. These fortune tellers claim that the name leads to a better future in the child according to principles such as
Five elements (五行 wǔ xíng).
Regional variations
Taiwan
Family names in Taiwan of the
Han Chinese heritage are similar to those in southeast China, as most families maintain
family trees that are traceable to their origins in places such as
Fujian and
Guangdong.
Taiwanese aborigines have also adopted Chinese names in the process of assimilation (see also
Taiwanese name). The popularity distribution of family names in Taiwan as a whole differs somewhat from the distribution of names among all Han Chinese, with the family name Chen (陳) particularly common (generally about 11%). Local variations also exist.
The top ten most frequent family names in Taiwan, ranking in China, and common romanizations.
| Top Ten in Taiwan | Rank in China | Pe̍h-ōe-jī | Common romanizations |
|---|
| 陳 | 5 | Tân | Chen, Chan |
| 林 | 16 | Lîm | Lin, Lam |
| 黃 | 8 | n̂g | Huang, Hwang, Wong |
| 李 | 1 | Lí | Li, Lee, Le |
| 張 | 3 | Tiuⁿ | Zhang, Chang, Cheung |
| 王 | 2 | Ông | Wang, Wong |
| 吳 | 10 | Ngô͘ | Wu, Ng |
| 劉 | 4 | Lâu | Liu, Liou, Lau |
| 蔡 | ? | Chhòa | Cai, Tsai, Choi, Choy |
| 楊 | 6 | Iûⁿ | Yang, Yeung |
Among the Taiwanese
Presbyterian Christians, the family name 偕 (Chieh, or Jie in Hanyu Pinyin) is of particular interest as an example of a Chinese-like surname with a non-Chinese
root. According to the clan's tradition, the name was adopted to honor the
Canadian missionary George Leslie Mackay, also known as Má-Chieh (馬偕). This family name is actually rarely seen even among
Presbyterian Christians. Taiwanese Christians of other sects do not carry this tradition.
(See:
Top 10 Taiwanese family names and
Top family names in China (1988),
List of common Chinese surnames)
Given names that consist of one character are much less common on Taiwan than in
mainland China.
More common in the past when life was much more difficult, Taiwanese given names are sometimes unofficially re-assigned based on the recommendation of
fortune-tellers, in order to ward off bad
omens and evil spirits. For example, a sick boy may be renamed "Ti-sái" (豬屎), or "
Hog Manure", to indicate to the evil spirits that he is not worth their trouble. Similarly, a girl from a poor family may have the name "Bóng-chhī" (罔市), or translated loosely, "Keeping (her) Only Reluctantly".
Nicknames (also known as "child names", ''gín-á-miâ'', 囝仔名) derives from the practice common to Fujian of being constructed by attaching the prefix "A-" (阿) to the last syllable. Unlike the situation in Mainland China, this construction is used for Hakka names as well. Nicknames are often used by friends to refer to each other, but are rarely used in formal contexts. However, one major exception to this is
Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁, Tân Chúi-píⁿ) who refers to himself as A-píⁿ--a (阿扁) in public, which appears endearing to his supporters. The use of nicknames in public contexts is however unusual, and very few other public figures (such as the singer
A-mei) are known by their nicknames.
Examples of names of prominent Taiwanese born in Taiwan, mostly after World War II.
★ One-character family name + two-character given name (mainstream)
★
★ 王永慶 ＝ 王 ＋ 永慶 (billionaire)
★
★ 陳長文 ＝ 陳 ＋ 長文 (lawyer)
★
★ 張榮發 ＝ 張 ＋ 榮發 (billionaire)
★
★ 林懷民 ＝ 林 ＋ 懷民 (dancer)
★
★ 陳宜暉 ＝ 陳 ＋ 宜暉 (ethnic dance choreographer)
★
★ 梁國平 ＝ 梁 ＋ 國平 (linguist)
★
★ 古金水 ＝ 古 ＋ 金水 (aboriginal athlete who adopted Chinese name)
★ One-character family name + one-character given name (few)
★
★ 蔡琴 ＝ 蔡 ＋ 琴 (folk singer)
★
★ 蕭薔 ＝ 蕭 ＋ 薔 (actress;
stage name)
★ Two-character family name + one- or two-character given name (even fewer)
★
★ 歐陽龍 ＝ 歐陽 ＋ 龍 (actor, local politician)
★ Compound family name + one- or two-character given name (rare)
★
★ 鄭余鎮 ＝ 鄭‧余 ＋ 鎮 (former politician involved in a sex scandal)
★
★ 郭李建夫 ＝ 郭‧李 ＋ 建夫 (retired professional baseball player)
★ Husband's family name + one-character family name + two-character given name (some women)
★
★ 錢林慧君 ＝ 錢 ＋ 林 ＋ 慧君 (former
Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) legislator)
Diaspora
Among
Chinese Americans, it is common practice to be referred to primarily by the Western name and to use the Chinese given name as a
middle name; for instance, Soong would have "James Chu-yu Soong". In a more recent effort to combine Western names for those with native Chinese names, the Western name is placed directly in front of the Chinese name so that both the Chinese and Western names can be easily identified. The relative order of family name-given name is also preserved. Using this scheme, Soong Chu-yu would be James Soong Chu-yu.
In Malaysia and Singapore, it is equally acceptable for Western names to appear before or after the Chinese given name, thus
Tan Keng Yam Tony may also be written as Tony Tan Keng Yam, and individuals are free to indicate their official names in either format on their
identity cards. General usage tend to prefer placing the Western name first due to the popularity of referring to individuals simply as "Tony Tan" and dropping the given Chinese name entirely. For administrative purposes, however,
government agencies tend to place the Western name behind so as to standardise namelists sorted by family names. In some cases, therefore, agencies may choose to include a
comma behind the Chinese name to indicate such amendments made, for instance, "Tan Keng Yam, Tony".
The Hong Kong printed media tends to adopt a presentation style similar to American usage, for instance, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen. On official records such as the Hong Kong
Identity Cards, however, family names are always printed first, capitalised, and followed with a comma for all names, including non-Chinese names. Therefore the name would be printed as either TSANG, Yam Kuen Donald or TSANG, Donald Yam Kuen, according to the person's, or the person's parents' own preference at time of application. A non-Chinese name would be printed in the style of "BUSH, George Walker". Some people do not have the
transliterations of their Chinese given names in their names in English record, such as Henry Lee or Peter Vincent Cheng. In
Macau, ethnic Chinese individuals who have Portuguese given names may have their names written in the Portuguese name order, such as Carlos do Rosário Tchiang.
Romanization
In mainland China, Han names are romanized in
pinyin, usually without tone marks. Chinese from
Mainland China are generally recognizable from the "x", "zh" and "q" that exist in
Hanyu Pinyin orthography.
In Taiwan, the vast majority of Taiwanese today romanize their names in
Mandarin pronunciation using
Wades-Giles or a similar system, which can be easily distinguished from the
Hanyu Pinyin used for romanization in
Mainland China and
Singapore by the lack of the use of "q", "zh", and "x", by the use of "hs" and by the inclusion of hyphens. Unlike
Mainland China, romanization of names in Taiwan is not standardized and one can often find idiosyncratic variants such as Lee or Soong, and others.
Chinese in southeast Asia, Hong Kong,
Macau, and other old diaspora communitites are likely to romanize in their own dialect, such as "吳" becomes Ng in languages such as Cantonese, while the same character would be Wu in Mandarin. In particular,
Cantonese,
Min Nan,
Hakka are prevalent. Although not a Chinese dialect,
ethnic Chinese in
Vietnam romanize their names in Vietnamese pronunciation using
quoc ngu, making them almost indistinguishable from
Vietnamese names. In Singapore, individuals, or their parents, are free to choose to romanize their Chinese names in Mandarin, in any Chinese dialect, or in any other form as deemed fit. In general, however, the romanized name in dialect and in Mandarin (in
pinyin) are both depicted on the person's NRIC, unless the bearer chooses to drop either of them. In Macau, Chinese names are usually
transliterated based on Portuguese
orthography.
Alternative names
Nicknames are usually an alteration of the given name, sometimes based on the person's physical attributes, speaking style or even their first word. A nickname may consist of the diminutive ''ā'' (阿) or ''xiăo'' (小), followed by part of the given name (usually the last character or occasionally the surname -- but see
Forms of address, below). The ''ā'' (阿) diminutive is more commonly found in the southern regions of China than in the north, where ''xiăo'' (小) is more common. Nicknames are rarely used in formal or semi-formal settings. One exception to this is
Chen Shui-bian, who is commonly known as A-bian (阿扁) even by himself and in
newspaper articles.
In former times, it was common for educated males to acquire
courtesy names. The two most common forms were a ''zì'' (字), given upon reaching maturity, and a ''hào'' (), usually self-selected and often somewhat whimsical. Although this tradition has lapsed, authors' use of
pen names is still a common phenomenon. ''For more information, see
Chinese style name.''
For prominent people,
posthumous names () have often been given, although this is uncommon now.
Sun Yat-sen was given the posthumous name of Guófù (,
Father of the Nation), the name by which he is most frequently known in
Taiwan. Emperors were also ascribed
temple names (), and in certain situations, an
Era name as well.
Forms of address
Within families, adults are rarely referred to by their given names. Rather, the relationship is stressed, so each member is known by this connection. Thus, there is big sister, second sister, third sister and so on. These connections are also distinguished by what side of the family they are on. Generally speaking though, the family title is only used when the relative being called is older than caller. It is considered highly inappropriate and sometimes extremely offensive if a person from a younger generation calls someone from an older generation by his/her given name. Younger relatives are normally only called by their relational title in formal situations. Children can be called by their given name, or their parents may use their nickname.
When speaking of non-family social acquaintances, people are generally referred to by a title, for example Mother Li () or Mrs. Zhu (朱太太, ). Personal names are used when referring to adult friends or to children, although, unlike in the west, referring to somebody by their full name (including surname) is common even among friends, especially if the person's full name is only two syllables. It is common to refer to a person as ''lăo'' (老, old) or ''xiăo'' (小, young) followed by their family name, thus Lăo Wáng (老王) or Xiăo Zhāng (小張, 小张). Xiăo is also frequently used as a diminutive, when it is typically paired with the second or only character in a person's name, rather than the surname. Note that because old people are well respected in Chinese society, ''lăo'' (old) does not carry disrespect, offense or any negative implications even if it's used to refer to an older woman. Despite this, it is advisable for non-Chinese to avoid calling a person xiăo-something or lăo-something unless they are so-called by other Chinese people and it is clear that the appellation is acceptable and widely used. Otherwise, the use of the person's full name, or alternatively, their surname followed by xiānshēng (, mister) or nǚshì (, madam) is relatively neutral and unlikely to cause offence.
Should the person being addressed be the head of a company (or simply the middle manager of another company to whom you would like to give face), one might equally address them by affixing zŏng () to their surname, as in Lĭ zŏng (), or, if they are slightly lower down on the corporate food-chain but nonetheless a manager, by affixing jīnglĭ (, manager). How people address each other is of incredible importance in Chinese culture, and can reflect a good deal about the relationship between two people, especially in corporate settings.
References
1. Hawaii, , James A., Michener, Ballantine Books, ,
See also
★
Chinese clan
★
Chinese given name
★
Generation name
★
List of common Chinese surnames
★
Japanese name
★
Korean name
★
Vietnamese name
★
Hmong Surnames
★
Family name#China
External links
★
Free Chinese Names Free English to Chinese translation and free boy & girl names mostly used by Chinese.
★
Your name in Chinese Name translation in Chinese character with calligraphy and pronunciation
★
Get a Chinese name
★
Good Characters, Inc. Chinese naming for business professionals
★
Get an email address with a Chinese name
★
Chinese Family Titles
★
Chinese Baby Name an article about how Chinese baby names are chosen
★
Get Your Chinese Name Free 6000 Chinese Names with calligraphy. (The same in
French :
5000 Chinese names with true calligraphy)
★
[1] Some English names in Chinese.
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