Choosing your Chinese name

[Lu]

真理 means truth and sounds to me kinda weird for a name. About as weird as being named 'Truth' in English. Possible, in some contexts, but kinda weird. 佳琪 on the other hand sounds to me like a perfectly normal female name.

[Kike]

Probably my own fault for looking up popular Chinese names on the internet. I was already wondering if it would be weird in Chinese to call myself ´Truth´, as I wouldn't be comfortable with it in English either. Haha. But many Chinese names sound kinda weird to me when translated directly... can't tell yet which are ok and which aren't!

So thanks for your opinion/advice!

[Silent]

What do you people think about 外漂泊 as a Chinese name? What good/bad connotations would native Chinese people have with this name?

[skylee]

It does not sound like a good name. Names sometimes reflect the situation where they are made up, but more often they reflect hopes for the people bearing the names or for their descendants. If a person is 在外漂泊, I think more likely the name for himself or descendants would reflect the hope for returning home or stopping of the wandering. The words 歸 and 根 come to mind.

[tamir302]

Hi all,

I wondered- maybe you can help me with finding a Chinese name?

My name is Tamir, in Hebrew it means tall (though I'm not that tall, just average ).

As my last name starts with "Fel", I figured I turn it into 菲 (fei1).

But what to do with my given name, Tamir?

Thanks!

[Lu]

Perhaps switch up last name and surname a bit and call yourself 高菲? Not sure if the similarity to 高飞 would be good or bad, best wait for input from a native speaker. Are you a woman? 菲 is a female name.

[tamir302]

Oh, I didn't know Fei is a Female name! As a male, I guess I need another one...

[skylee]

Consider 費德敏 (fei4 de2 min3). Many people think that 敏 is just for female, but it is not.

[tamir302]

It actually sounds a lot like my last name!

But who think it's a girl name? Chinese people? I don't want them to go "Hey, why do you have a girl name?"

[Silent]

If a person is 在外漂泊, I think more likely the name for himself or descendants would reflect the hope for returning home or stopping of the wandering.

I like to convey pretty much the opposite. I like to convey a wandering, maybe searching, spirit. A soul that does not belong, but observes. Any suggestions for an alternative?

[skylee]

Consider 游鑑, either as a full name (游 itself is a surname) or a first name.

Take a look at the Taiwan MOE dictionary for a fuller explanation of the word 游

Personally I would prefer a single name 游, which can convey a lot. (PS - 游 is a cool name unless you pair it with surnames such as 黃 / 牛 / 石 etc which might mislead people to think it is 油.) Famous people with this name included 陸游 and 秦少游 (少游 was his alias. His formal name was 秦觀 and 觀 means to look/observe, among other meanings).

PS - interestingly, 陸游's alias was 務觀.

[Silent]

Ok Skylee, thanks for the suggestion. Those characters are less well known by me but I see some merits. I'll think about and google the mentioned people...

[Benjameno]

OK, what about the name 张译喆 for myself? Is it too bizarre? Does it sound silly?

[MaggyMar]

Hello, I read a few posts here and I am very interested to get myself a Chinese name and I think I need help finding one for me.

I am a Chinese but not registered as one in my country (me and my father was registered as native instead in Malaysia for some quite racist reason they said).

But I know my chinese family name was originally romanized Sim, and turn out to be like this 沈 (Shen, as my friend suggested). I still appreciate the Chinese ancestry in me and think that it is wise to present myself as chinese in some sort of way.

I really would like to seek help from my Chinese friends, there are a few of them but none really offered me favourable name as I wish for the one that somehow carry a meaning or some. 娳姈 is the thing they suggest since it rhyme with my name, Marilyn. My friends' names are often do mean something, hui li, hui sing for example. Unlike the previous posts before, I don't really want a name derived from flower but instead characters or quality within a person such as strength, wisdom, and wealth if ever possible. I will still want the romanized western name be intact with the designed name later like my christian friends.

I see some of you seeking help in internet and even come with a real good suggestion, so I humbly request help from people around here. please help me...

[Amy （亞美）]

OMG.

In Malaysia, non-Chinese who studied chinese language don't get a last name e.g 李 etc. My Chinese name is 亚美, as it rhymes with Amy. And as I have a Japanese foster family - they let me have their family name and now it's 秋本 亚美 - been using that for my chinese name ever since

@MaggyMar,

娳姈 is nice and fancy, but hard to pronounce to people with low vocabs LOL (and honestly I don't know what it means). How about 莉琳, meaning jasmine and jade - I'm imagining jasmine flower-shaped jade when pronouncing it.

[MaggyMar]

@amy thank you for your idea and what you think of my friend's suggestion. I might not want to have a name with a incomprehensible meaning. Really think your idea on my name is sweet, very lovely indeed and I accept it wholeheartedly! Thank you very much huhu.

Oh my, what an out date post I should have thank you earlier but why, I forgot the password. T____T

[tysond]

Many years back, my sister was in Beijing during Spring Festival and heard a song playing on the radio again and again.

She called me and told me it sounded like eveyone in China was singing my (English) name - Tyson Dowd.

Hence it became my Chinese name: 财神到。

I worried about whether it was appropriate/respectful for a while but I've found that 99% of the time it's met with a lot of excitement and enthusiasm.