Help with picking a Chinese name

[nick234]

Hi All,

I travel to China for business frequently and am often asked if I have a Chinese name or for help pronouncing my English name. To make it easy for me to remember, I wanted to pick something similar to my English name, Nick. I had considered 吴猊恪. My English last name sounds a bit like Wu but with a few more syllables after it. I am a guy.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this name? Good or bad?

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[skylee]

I don't particularly like the dog radical in a name. 恪 is ok.

Perhaps you could also consider the word 迺.

[thorchen]

猊恪 could be good enough to me

猊 could mean lion and lion has some approving meaning in chinese...

恪is also very good, if not better.

this two words together give some good impression such as respectful ,dignified , handsome and very loyal to your job..

[yialanliu]

I'd just use the standard translation of 尼克 especially if you are a businessman. Your name would be easy to remember and easy to write(you won't have to tell them how to write it, whereas your unconventional version would require an explanation everytime you tell someone it).

Btw, Skylee, what's so bad about a 犭字旁 characters for names? While granted they are rare (haven't seen one myself that I recall), is there a reason why they are not used?

[skylee]

Think dogs and animals.

[Lu]

I'd just use the standard translation of 尼克 especially if you are a businessman. Your name would be easy to remember and easy to write(you won't have to tell them how to write it, whereas your unconventional version would require an explanation everytime you tell someone it).

Yah, it is easy and straightforward, but if you're going to spend more time in China it's also nice to have a Chinese name that sounds more Chinese. The standard transliteration is a little boring.

[nick234]

Thanks everyone for the input about my Chinese name...

The I hadn’t thought about 迺 or any of its homonyms, and I like the meaning of 迺恪. I would hate to have it confused with 奶 though, or would that be nonsensical to a native speaker?

I was going for lion with 猊 (an animal that I've always considered to be a 'noble' animal) but if it's not usual or there are negative connotations in Chinese culture then I may reconsider.

I thought about the standard 尼克 translation but, as Lu mentioned, it’s a little boring and I was searching for something with a little more meaning behind it.

Nick

[skylee]

Well JF Kennedy is commonly translated to 甘迺迪. 迺 is not uncommon in names. But if you are worried about confusion with 奶, then you should reconsider.

[flewrain]

A good Chinese name is meaningful in a good way and also easy to remember. In the Internet age, make sure it contains no infrequently used characters. To avoid being a joke topic, DO NOT choose names like 杨伟 or names which contain characters sounds like human organ or any funny things, say 迺. I believe 尼克 is quite good for you, easy to remember, pronounces pretty much the same as what it sounds in English, people can remember both your English name and Chinese name at the same time. 猊 is rarely used in daily life, most people don't get what it is.

[nick234]

Are single word names common at all? i.e. something like 恪 by itself.

[jkhsu]

Are single word names common at all?

Single character given names (first names) are common in the PRC. However (in the case of single character given names), people are almost always referred to by both their family name and given name. Sometimes, repeating the character in the given name (as a nickname) is done. In that situation, the family name can be left out. Here's an example (I totally made this up):

Given name: 聪 (Cong)

Family name: 刘 (Liu)

This person would always be referred to as 刘聪. Rarely (if ever) will anyone call this person 聪. However, this person could have a nickname which is 聪聪. If that's the case, most likely family, friends and co-workers will call this person 聪聪 instead (leaving out the 刘).

i.e. something like 恪 by itself.

If you choose only 恪 as your given name, then people will pretty much always call you 吴恪 (or maybe some other 2 character nickname). However, if you choose 尼克 for example, then people will just call you 尼克 (after they know you) instead of 吴尼克 (used more in formal situations).

[yialanliu]

As Jkhsu said, it is very rare. But I personally am an example of the exception.

Close friends and family always call me Yi （绎）as I have a 2 character full name.

However, once again, that is definitely rare.

What I would like to add though is even though there are cases where people call me Yi, it is definitely not appropriate for everyone to call me that. With people I have just met, it is definitely inappropriate for them to call me Yi in China. On top of this I'd consider that to be disrespectful if you called me Yi in a business setting. Like most chinese, I'd prefer them to call me 小刘 if they are older than me. And if you are relatively old (40s/50s+) people calling you 老+Last Name is normal too.

In the US it's obviously different and everyone calls me Yi including business setting, but the culture is different.

[skylee]

What is very rare? Single-word names? But they are not rare at all. Kenny2006woo has a single-word name (just visit his website). I had classmates with a single-word name.

I have spent some more time thinking about the OP's name. I think that for the surname, one does not have to use 吳. There are other common surnames with the pronunciation of wu. I have worked with people with the surnames 鄔 and 巫 (this is not very common but it is my current boss's name). And there are also 伍 (common) and 武 (less common). So there are options other than 吳.

As to the given name, I think Nick is a difficult one. I like 寧 and 甯 (Ning). (I have met a guy called 定寧. His parents must want him to be very stable.) But Wu Ning does not sound very good. There are words we use in names that do not really have a lot of meaning. 迺 above is one. Others include 子, 之 and 君. So I think perhaps the name could be Wu Zining - 吳子寧/伍子甯. If you have siblings, you can also use the names 伯仲叔季. The first son uses 伯, the fourth son uses 季 (I had a classmate called 季強). If you are an only child, perhaps you could consider 伯寧/伯甯.

[animal world]

Think dogs and animals.

And what's wrong with that, huh? ;)

[heifeng]

on the subject of 犭: 狄 is the character I see most commonly w/ a 犭in a name (just in soap operas alone and off the top of my head, there is 狄仁杰,,吴狄...etc)

subject of characters starting w/ N:

Possible surnames

instead of 猊 a character that has the same pronunciation and is a surname is 倪 (not super common, but I know a couple of people w/ this surname).

For N's though, I like the surname 那. Again, not very common, but you see it once in a while

Names:

I like 寧 and 甯 (Ning).

I like this character in names as well,

[yialanliu]

What is very rare? Single-word names? But they are not rare at all. Kenny2006woo has a single-word name (just visit his website). I had classmates with a single-word name.

Single word names with regards to how you introduce yourself. The name format isn't rare. Calling someone by a single character is rare.