chinese name for China

[新墨西哥人]

I'm kind of having fun coming up with Chinese names for my husband, myself and my daughter in the event we get to live in Shanghai next year. But do we actually need them? My daughter would be in preschool so seems like a Chinese name would be very useful. My husband's application to be a visiting scientist asks for a Chinese name but that might be optional, I'm not sure. We can ask his collaborator as well.

 

Is it OK to choose a name and enter it? And just use these unofficial names for everyday things when it is easier than using our English names?

 

I might as well let you know my ideas, in case I'm doing something that would be inauspicious or just plain wrong/inappropriate.

 

I've think our surname would be 李 (an homage to hubbies dad's first name, and my daughter's name would be the same as her aunt's first & middle name (Alice Lee), whom she was named after). Plus easy to say and is a common surname

 

Idea for my daughter's name: 阿麗思 (阿麗 acutally would be preferable if acceptable, or another way to say Ali). Her name is Alice as you might have guessed. And is there an alternative to 麗 or would I have to learn to write that character? ;) I googled Alice in wonderland to figure it out, btw. Would it be OK as a name in China or unusual?

 

When I asked my daughter what she would like her name to be she said she wants to be named Snow White (白雪公主）My Chinese teacher sure laughed at that one, well I admit I do too. ;) She is obviously obsessed with Snow White. Out of curiousity is 白雪 is an option? It would seem totally weird to me to basically name her after her skin color, though, even if it was. Plus I vastly prefer the phonetic translation of her name.

 

I haven't come up with names for my husband and myself.  I'll probably just pick out something I like (instead of a translation of Rachel). I could have John use the translation of his name 约翰 or of course let him choose something else he likes. anyway I would like to hear what you have to say.

 

 

 

 

[Shelley]

A nicer rendition of Alice/Ali is 爱丽 the pinyin is ai li and said with the correct Chinese pronunciation sounds more like the English Ali.  The character you have chosen for the a sound is usually just a noise in Chinese like oh is in English. Ai li means love beautiful.

 

If you are going to have a Chinese name you need to decide if you will put it in Chinese order Last name first which would be best in Ai Li 's case or it could end up being a bit of tongue twister Ai Li Li. or you could have Li Ai Li.

 

My name is transliterated to Xue Li meaning beautiful snow, I am not the palest of people, but i was born in the winter so its not too bad.

 

Xue Bai is snow white. Alternative meanings for these two characters are pure as snow (xue) and pure,clear (bai).

 

So if you used  Xue Bai it could also be explained as pure and clear, and only as a family would you know it was because she is mad on Snow White.

 

But in a way that is what Snow White means in the fairy tale pure and innocent. So all in all not bad. 雪白李 sounds nice

 

As for Rachel Rui Xia is the first entry on my name list and so is probably the most popular, 瑞霞李 sounds nice too. Means lucky red clouds

 

John is usually something like zhong ni ( sounds like Johnny) 仲尼 used for their sounds more than the meaning. This is one a native speaker might know a more up to date one.

 

Of course you may find that on arriving in china your Chinese friends will give Chinese names, this is a really nice way of getting a Chinese name as it usually has the benefit of them knowing you and picking something suitable.

 

i was given my first chinese name by my first Chinese teacher but as I learnt more i kept the pronunciation but chose different characters.

 

Traditionally children were not named until they survived a 100 days and then they got a baby name, usually a double name as they give to pandas, then you got  a school name, which as the name implies you use while you are a student and then when you were considered an adult you choose your own name.

So remember there is a lot in name, choose carefully, don't settle for the first thing and above do not take everything I have said without checking other source as I am still learning and can make mistakes, but this is my best effort in an attempt to furnish you with more information and choices to help you decide.

 

Hope it goes well, and if you do decide, it would be nice to know what you choose.

[Lu]

I once knew a Taiwanese woman named 雪白, and it was a slightly funny name but apparently it had served her perfectly well, so you can consider it. 爱丽 is also nice, and you'll note that the simplified version of 丽 is a lot easier to write than the traditional one.

As to order, I disagree with Shelley that you can choose. If you have a Chinese name, it is written Surname-Given name. So your daughter would be 李雪白, not 雪白李, imo that would just be weird.

仲尼 makes me think of Confucius, not sure if that is correct... 约翰 is fine as a transliteration of John, although it's clearly a transliteration of his English name, no Chinese person would have that name.

[Shelley]

I agree that is should be surname first given second but not everyone follows that and I know some Chinese people to stop confusion actually have changed it around when they are not in china.

[新墨西哥人]

Sounds like we should wait until we get there. We'll leave that entry blank on the form. And of course surname would be first. I'm interested to know if John's collaborator uses surname/first in the U.S. or if he switched it. I'm having my husband ask him that this evening when they Skype, so that we put it on the form correctly! Plus I'm curious.

 

I think I would prefer to just go with chinese names vs. the transliterations. Also like lucky red clouds, very nice, I like that. Sounds like a pretty sunset.

 

If  a version of Snow White is acceptable that could be fun, especially if it has other interpretations. Of course by then she may love another princess even more, sigh (too much princess!) I do like Xue Li, too - Alice was also born in the winter (day after Xmas, poor kid). Anyway I guess there is no need to think about it too much yet!

[Shelley]

Well I hope it goes well for you when you eventually make it to Shanghai

[skylee]

John is usually something like zhong ni ( sounds like Johnny) 仲尼 used for their sounds more than the meaning. This is one a native speaker might know a more up to date one.

I don't think it is a good idea to use 仲尼 for John/Johnny. It is one of the names of Confucius. While I guess many people don't know that, those who do would find the name funny.

John is usually translated to 約翰.

[Demonic_Duck]

Some thoughts...

 

Johnny Depp = 强尼·戴普 Qiángní Dàipǔ. The meaning of 强尼 is... strong buddhist nun.

 

Choosing a Chinese name and then writing it forename-surname would be odd, to say the least. It would be the equivalent of 朱夏 choosing the English name "Sharon", but then insisting people called her "Zhu Sharon" instead of "Sharon Zhu".

 

I used to have a housemate called 白雪. She once flew into a rage and kicked down a door though, so I don't have a particularly good personal impression of that name.

 

Overall, I'd wait until you get to China and are surrounded by Chinese people who know you a bit and can advise you about this. They'll probably be able to come up with something much better than strong buddhist nun.

[rjf611]

I am chinese who lives in Shanghai,my name is 任江风，and Ren is the last name in English,Jiangfeng is the first name,lol,I think 爱丽 is good,it does nearly have the same prounction with Alice,and 爱丽 in chinese is a good name,it means Sb is beautiful and pure

[DongLian]

While on topic of chinese names.. a bit back I chose 陆冬恋.

No one has told me there was anything wrong with that but sometimes people laugh at me when I tell them I picked it because my fiance is surnamed 陆 and I met him in Winter (both times, online and in person).  So I thought it was a bit romantic of a name and I didn't want 爱 as it seemed trite.

 

Is there anything about my name that is bad? or perhaps is it a bit corny and cheesy so they laugh (which I'm ok with!) 

 

I just want to make sure before I go to China and use it there.. I have plenty of Chinese friends and of course Chinese fiance but I guess I'm paranoid that people won't say anything because "face" or because fiance grew up in Canada so he might not catch subtext as he moved from Shanghai at 7 and might not know it's "bad".

[新墨西哥人]

I imagine someone here will let you know, or be able to suggest something winter-related (perhaps also love related, but maybe more subtle?) that people won't chuckle at (although it sounds like you don't mind).  Good luck! Have you told them you are still choosing a name, or just that your name is 陆冬恋. Perhaps if you said you are still deciding on a name they will offer more of an opinion?

[新墨西哥人]

chinese-forumers, don't miss 陆冬恋's post above...

 

Also on another note on my daughter's name. I was thinking if I put her in a full-immersion preschool in 上海(i.e. not an international school, but a "regular" preschool local children go to that will let in a foreigner). (well, now I'm acting like we have already been accepted to go live in Shanghai) I might want to use something that sounds like her name so she recognizes it.

 

I think she might also learn to respond to 白雪 though. The other day we were in our front yard, and the neighbor girl came over. She asked Alice "what is your name?" Alice said, "Snow White." I said, "Do you have another name you use?" Alice said, “白雪公主”。yes! (unrelated, does the punctuation go inside or outside the quote?)

 

And last night, by accident, we watched the Hello Kitty in Mandarin with Snow White. I totally recognized 白雪公主 (I'm still a beginner, but am catching more and more when I watch cartooons with Alice). I'm not sure if Alice did, as I pointed it out right away (oops). She watched about four Hello Kittys (in Mandarin) and eventually she went 睡觉 （another "yes!!!")

[li3wei1]

I'd be really careful with names, and find a well educated Chinese person you trust to help you. There are various superstitions about numbers of strokes and other things, and as in English, it is easy to inadvertantly name yourself after a fictional character or historical person that you'd rather not be associated with.

[DongLian]

Yeah I don't mind people chuckling at me if it's because they think it's cheesily romantic.. I'm just always paranoid it's got some thing... there that I just don't know about.

[liuzhou]

 

I agree that is should be surname first given second but not everyone follows that and I know some Chinese people to stop confusion actually have changed it around when they are not in china.

 

But it doesn't stop confusion. Those westerners who do know that in China (and much of east Asia) the surname comes first may not know that the person has switched their name around to supposedly accommodate western norms,  

 

I always advise Chinese friends to capitalise their surnames no matter what order they use.

 

My lovely friend 容荣, who is now in that America, has a hard time though.

 

Hello. What’s your name?

 

容荣

 

What’s wrong?

 

Nothing wrong! My name is 容荣

 

What’s wrong with your name?

 

Nothing! My family name is 容

And my given name is 荣!

 

Both your names are wrong? What should they be?

 

My names aren’t wrong. They are Rong!

 

Then later came relief.

 

“Hi, what's your name?”

 

“My name is Rong. What's your name?”

 

“Really? My name is Wright!!”

 

True story.

[Lu]

“Hi, what's your name?”

“My name is Rong. What's your name?”

“Really? My name is Wright!!”

Ooh they should get married and hyphenate their names. Or Rong Rong can change their name and Wright a Rong. What an awesome story.

[Shelley]

So do two Rongs make a Wright?

[liuzhou]

 

Ooh they should get married and hyphenate their names.

 

Excellent idea.

 

Sadly, 容荣 is already married (happily really!) and both Rong Rong and Ms Wright are of the female persuasion, and I don't thing 容荣 is that way inclined.

 

 

So do two Rongs make a Wright?

 

Not in this case.