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Basics About Chinese Names
By Yi Zhang
Thinking of going to China for business and having your business
cards translated? You may want to consider this: What will
your name sound like to potential Chinese business partners?
There are a few basic things about Chinese names that are
important to know when doing business in China.
First, understand a fundamental difference between a Chinese
name and a western name, that is, the order of given name and
family name. A western name places the given name first and
the family name last, for example, American president, George
Bush. A Chinese name places the family name first followed by
the given name, for example, Chinese President, Hu Jintao. Why
the difference? There is some speculation on that. One possible
reason is that order indicates different cultural values. The
Chinese culture holds great respect for their origins and ancestors
so they put family names first. Western culture is more individualistic,
hence an individual’s given name comes before the family
name. Making sense of the difference in name order, although
only speculation, helps us shed light on cultural differences,
which in turn allows us to be more culturally sensitive when
doing business in China.
Second, know that Chinese given names generally have meanings.
Chinese characters that signify something special to parents
are usually used to name their child. For example, my name,
Yi, it means “high spirit”. According to my name,
I am always in good spirits. Parents pick a child’s
given name in different ways. Most of the time, parents pick
Chinese characters to express their wishes or expectations
for their child. For example, “Qian” is used to
express the wish that your child always stay humble; “Ping”
is used to wish a child a secure and peaceful life; “Fu”
is used to wish a child a prosperous life; “Jian”,
is used to wish a child to be strong and perseverant. Other
than the most common method of naming a child, some parents
name their child after a certain hero. In that case, the child
would have the same given name as that of a person the parents
admire. Some use certain Chinese characters that are rarely
used just to make their child’s name special and distinctive
from others. In any case, chances are if you ask a Chinese
person about his or her name, you might hear an interesting
story. If you want to strike up a friendly conversation, ask
about a person’s name and what it means.
You may wonder how your name would be translated into Chinese.
A foreign name is typically translated into Chinese based
on its pronunciation using Chinese characters that are generally
used to signify foreign names. This will give you a transliterated
name based on pronunciation only. But knowing that Chinese
names usually carry meanings, you may want to have a more
Chinese-like name. The translator will then try to use Chinese
characters that sound close to your name but carry certain
meanings. For example, for the name Macy, a translator can
either use characters that only signify foreign names, or
use two Chinese characters that mean Beautiful and Happiness.
A good Chinese name is not only phonetically sound and rhyming
but also rich in its connotation. A translator will do his
best to create a name that is both.
Keep in mind picking names is actually a specialized trade
in China. Picking the right name is not always an easy task.
Still, it may be worth having your translator work on creating
a more Chinese-like name, rather than a transliterated one.
Not only will your name sound more authentic, you’ll
have a conversation-starter!
January 2006
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