edelweis Posted June 15, 2011 at 05:09 PM Report Share Posted June 15, 2011 at 05:09 PM From what I understand, 哈 ha3 is a proper 姓, associated with the Muslim community. Would it be appropriate for a foreigner who is not a Muslim? or would it induce people in error (and cause embarrassment)? Also it is not clear to me whether 哈 ha1 can be used as a 姓 or not... Currently I am also considering 花 or 麦. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xiaocai Posted June 16, 2011 at 09:37 AM Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 at 09:37 AM Personally I would always recommend foreigners to choose common Chinese surnames, and 哈 is not really one of them. Even nowadays in China, people will think you are of minority (回族 or 蒙古族) background as soon as they see 哈 as your surname. Is there any particular reason behind your choices though? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gato Posted June 16, 2011 at 10:15 AM Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 at 10:15 AM 哈哈。 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edelweis Posted June 16, 2011 at 10:47 AM Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 at 10:47 AM @xiaocai: Thank you for the feedback. I really like 哈 (visually) as a character and it does sound a little like my non-Chinese name, these were the main reasons for my interest, but I did suspect it could prove misleading. Ah well. (Also I thought selecting a very common name could be inconvenient since it can lead to mix-ups.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xiaocai Posted June 16, 2011 at 11:05 AM Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 at 11:05 AM Uncommon surnames in Chinese are kind of like uncommon given names in English, which are something foreigners are normally recommend to avoid, especially the name is not given by parents but self-adopted. You can give yourself a nice first name to minimise the chance of mix-ups though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hofmann Posted June 16, 2011 at 12:51 PM Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 at 12:51 PM Too bad...only 哈 sounds like "ha" in Mandarin 呵呵呵呵. Can you tell us your name so that we might be able to suggest alternatives? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edelweis Posted June 16, 2011 at 05:04 PM Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 at 05:04 PM Er I'm not telling my name on a public forum, Mr "my name is not hoffman". I did do my homework and considered 花，华，黄，韩，海. Of these, I am somewhat partial to 花, the others all have something that I dislike (when considering them for my name). Perhaps I'll just select a nice looking one in the top 50. Too bad about 哈 though. It just looks neat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbradfor Posted June 16, 2011 at 07:06 PM Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 at 07:06 PM Mr "my name is not hoffman". You're right, it's hofmann. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outofin Posted June 16, 2011 at 07:19 PM Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 at 07:19 PM I had a classmate in elementary school whose name was 哈尼. Accidentally there is a minority group 哈尼族. Not sure if it's related. How could someone take an ethnic group's name as a personal name? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edelweis Posted June 16, 2011 at 07:28 PM Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 at 07:28 PM ＠Outofin: 哈 is listed as one of the 百家姓, so it is a valid Chinese surname. http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%99%BE%E5%AE%B6%E5%A7%93 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Family_Surnames More details here: http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/哈姓 @jbradfor: his name is neither Hoffman nor Hofmann. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted June 18, 2011 at 08:15 AM Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 at 08:15 AM 哈 is a valid surname, 哈金 has it. But imo it's a bit of a weird one. 花 sounds nice. What would your full name be? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob07 Posted June 18, 2011 at 11:15 AM Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 at 11:15 AM What would your full name be? How about 哈罚蛮？ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hofmann Posted June 18, 2011 at 03:54 PM Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 at 03:54 PM That looks quite xenophobic. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edelweis Posted June 18, 2011 at 04:40 PM Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 at 04:40 PM hehe... I have absolutely no idea about the "given name" part of it. Perhaps something that has to do with stars? (since, you know, an edelweiss is a star shaped flower). I haven't done any actual research into this beyond vaguely thinking about 花/edelweiss and also that 丝 looks nice... it is frequently used in girl's names isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meng Lelan Posted June 18, 2011 at 04:55 PM Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 at 04:55 PM Maybe 花晨星? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xiaocai Posted June 18, 2011 at 06:07 PM Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 at 06:07 PM How about 哈罚蛮？ Are you serious? I don't know. I think it is not easy to find a nice given name for 花. I just feel that it will go well with 月 (think about 淡月失梅花, 暗香浮动月黄昏 and 春江花月夜), but there has to be something in between... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob07 Posted June 18, 2011 at 11:26 PM Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 at 11:26 PM Are you serious? Hofmann isn't Hofmann's name, so whose name is it? Maybe Hofmann is Edelweis's name. Or to put it another way, no I was not serious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted June 19, 2011 at 12:05 AM Report Share Posted June 19, 2011 at 12:05 AM perhaps 花秀明? or 花明秀? PS - hey here's another one. how about 花想容? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xiaocai Posted June 19, 2011 at 01:58 AM Report Share Posted June 19, 2011 at 01:58 AM Hofmann isn't Hofmann's name, so whose name is it? Maybe Hofmann is Edelweis's name. Or to put it another way, no I was not serious. I mean, maybe 花伐蛮 then, you know, the story of 花木兰... just kidding, it sounds very politically incorrect, and bad. 花想容 This is exactly what I was thinking about... Very poetic. 不过有自比杨美人之嫌，哈哈。 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hofmann Posted June 19, 2011 at 02:54 AM Report Share Posted June 19, 2011 at 02:54 AM Actually, 花伐狄, not 蠻. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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