Looking around here, I can’t help but wonder how some of my Western brethren come by their Chinese names. With someone like Ken (Kai En), it just a sound translation. Easy peasy. But others… I’m curious. Lantian? Bazza?
For example, I have a friend named Xiao Yun. Now, literally translated, her name means “Little Cloud.” And it got me to thinking that the Chinese have more in common with this country’s original inhabitants than I ever guessed! Watching Jackie Chan’s Shanghai Noon takes on a whole new level of humor now. They called him “Man Who Fights in a Dress.” Brilliant.
But now I’m starting to worry. Maybe I need to take matters into my own hands! I had always thought that someday, years from now when I was living in Shanghai and working at ChinesePod, somebody would give me a Chinese name over a few beers and we’d laugh about it. Of course, the more I think about it, the more I fear I’ll end up with a name that translates to “Receding Hairline,” or “Can’t Hold His Liquor.” Oh, the humanity!
So, talk to me, folks. Why take a Chinese name at all? Is it just to make things easier for our Chinese friends? Is it a peer pressure thing? Are all the cool kids doing it? If you’ve got one (and you’re not Chinese), how did you come by it?
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Hi Frank,
the reason I got my Chinese name is that it was required when I applied to Peking University. I heard stories that if you don’t have a name, you will be randomly given one… I didn’t want to take that chance, so I chose a name that remotely resembles my name and has a nice meaning. My last name (Kong) is the same as Confucius’ and my first name (Kaixin) just means “happy”. (Sorry, can’t write characters at the moment…) It is not a name any Chinese person would have, but I don’t really care because I’m not trying to “be Chinese”. I asked my teacher if it is ok and she said it is fine.
-Kaixin
hu2cheng2 胡成
The last name hu sounds quite a lot like my real last name but also can mean beard 胡子. This allows me to say hu2zi de hu2 as I point to my beard and 不让他们忘记我的名字. (doesn’t allow them to forget my name).
hu2 has a negative connection or two but is is a Chinese surname if not particularly common (胡扯 talk nonesense, 胡吃闷睡 do nothing but eat and sleep like a fool). I think this is nicely offset by 成功 (too succeed) though.
If they mention Da Shan (grrrr) I can tell them that they can call me da4 cheng2 大成 (great achievement) which provokes an amused response (of some sort….)
I briefly toyed with the idea of changing the character for cheng2 to
程 as I am a programmer 程序员. So they could remember me really well
“what was the name of that big western bearded programmer guy with the lamentable Chinese, ohhhh silly me he was called BeardSequence, and he is a bearded sequence order person (programmer to you and me), hahahahahahahah!”
Then I realised I was in danger of dissapearing up my own backside and desisted.
So there you have it, Chinese names a fun game for all family and certainly beats doing crossword games. The big question of course： ｗｈｙ ｊｕｓｔ ｔｗｏ ｃｈａｒａｃｔｅｒｓ？
Ｗｅｌｌ ｒｅａｄ ｔｈｅ ａｂｏｖｅ ｃａｎ ｙｏｕ ｂｅｇｉｎ ｔｏ ｉｍａｇｉｎｅ ｔｈｅ ｔｉｍｅ Ｉ ｗｏｕｌｄ ｈａｖｅ ｗａｓｔｅｄ ｉｆ Ｉ ｈａｄ ａ ｗｈｏｌｅ ｔｈｒｅｅ ｓｙａｌｌａｂｌｅｓ ｔｏ ｗｏｒｋ ｗｉｔｈ？
Btw sometimes you can spot Westerners with job appropriate names.
My favorite one a while ago was some someone called Sarah O’Hara who was on some TV program as an expert on deserts (including the Sahara of course). But it strike me this kind of thing must happen a lot more with Chinese names.
Fantastic examples! Thank you both! I don’t know that I’d ever start tagging myself with my Chinese moniker, but a little forethought on the issue would probably go far.
Thanks for the feedback!
hi frank , thought i would clue you in on the english quirk of adding azza to english names ,Barry becomes “Bazza” Darren “Dazza” .Although i am answering for Bazza himself (and i’m sure he will correct me if i am wrong)this is why i think he has this name tag and not because of anything to do with chinese . I am a terrible offender of this sort of thing , i have found myself on occasion even shortening Ian to i (e) but in my defence i shorten my own name Jonathan to jon, the chinese name i have is also a transliteration qiao na sen which my wife tells me i will have to change as it makes no sense to her at all . btw do you find it hard to remeber chinese people’s names what with most of them being three syllables ,all those years of shortening other people’s names seems to have made my brain stop working after the first syllable .
Hey there, Jon! Thanks for stopping by!
I never knew that about the English “azza” thing. I’m getting all sorts of cultural education!
I don’t find the three-syllable name being a problem. Heck, MY last name is three syllables all by itself. It would be a little like the pot calling the kettle black, don’t you think?
Frank we take it even further some times. For instance I am called Baz just as often as Bazza by my work mates. Next, they’ll be shortening to just ‘B’!
天峰 tian1 feng1
I came about my after being in China for 2 years. Lots of people tried to give me different stuff but nothing ever stuck. My last name in English is Teehan where the H is silent and it sounds almost exactly like tian. I chose 天 and not 田 because many of my Japanese friends have that in their name. 峰 because I just had gotten back for a trip to 五老峰 and I liked the character. I think it is important and fun to choose a Chinese name. As many people know me by my Chinese name as by my English name. It is obvious that it is not a Chinese persons name when you see it written and I like that as well. As alluded to it is also a great conversation starter. First you have to explain what characters you use. I always say. 我叫天峰。 天安门的天山峰的峰， 不是疯狂的疯 and I usually get a little chuckle. It is a good way to break the ice and shows Chinese people you are making an attempt at understanding their culture.
My name QiuYue 秋月 was given to me upon request by a friend in China with whom I play the online game Everquest 2. Like all chinese names, it must be given to you by a person in China or it will never be any good, and even if it is given to you by a person in China, it’s still might not be any good. You won’t know until you ask 100 Chinese people if it’s good or not and even then you should doubt it.
My friend has adopted a very english name James Bell for use on American websites, and I wanted to set up an email account in China with a very chinese name. So I asked him for help choosing one.
What I especially like about my chinese name is that 秋 is a real surname Qiu in china, but the word itself can also be translated as Autumn. My real name Teresa in spanish means late summer, or autumn, as well.
To call me an autumn moon or a harvest moon is perfect for my personality, because I am of english descent and rather druidic in nature, and fall is my favorite time of year. He did not know this about me when he chose the name for me, but that is why I adopted it permanently.
I think that’s quite lovely! Thanks for sharing your story!