msruck Posted January 15, 2015 at 02:41 AM Report Posted January 15, 2015 at 02:41 AM i need native chinese speaker opinions on the below names for my baby daughter. the chinese name will be a middle name and she has an english first name. i wanted the chinese name though to work well in other countries in case she decides to use it later in life, and also so it will travel easily. I speak chinese well myself, but am chinese-american so don't know how names come across in asia. i want names that sound like they could be native chinese names (not just transliterations of a foreign name), and also the name should not have any wierd meanings that would cause embarrassment among native chinese speakers. am open to other suggestions as well. as you can see I am partial to names starting with M-, but also open to others. please tell me your favorite three names! and if there are any you think i should definitely cross off the list, please let me know! 玛日 - Mari玛雅 - Maya米卡 - Mika幂卡 - Mika米雅 - Miya幂雅 - Miya娥米 - Emi娥幂 - Emi米拉 - Mila幂拉 - Mila米娜 - Mina幂娜 - Mina敏娜 - Minna莉娜 - Lina汉娜 - Hanna丹雅 - Danya安雅 - Anya Quote
skylee Posted January 15, 2015 at 01:23 PM Report Posted January 15, 2015 at 01:23 PM I definitely don't like 瑪日. It sounds rude. I like Mari though, and if it is Japanese it is 真理, which I like a lot. (PS - but of course the Mandarin "ri" is very different from the Japanese "ri".) Among the names listed I like 冪雅 (also consider 糸雅), 敏娜 (I always like 敏 and 明 as names) and 安雅. Quote
Goshujinchama Posted January 15, 2015 at 01:25 PM Report Posted January 15, 2015 at 01:25 PM No expert but... I'd save... 莉娜 Lina (looks like a real name, google says at least in Japan there's someone famous with that name), 玛雅 Maya (same reason with the previous one) and 丹雅 (Danya) because I like it... not sure if legit name, but maybe 丹 is used in boys' names... Let's cross from the list the first one... Mari written with those characters looks like a curse word. should be 玛丽, maybe. I don't think it's wise to put 日 in a name. Quote
skylee Posted January 15, 2015 at 01:45 PM Report Posted January 15, 2015 at 01:45 PM "I don't think it's wise to put 日 in a name." Which reminds me of the joke about the names of past North Korean leaders. Quote
maomao2014 Posted January 15, 2015 at 02:35 PM Report Posted January 15, 2015 at 02:35 PM 敏娜 - Minna sounds like a native name Quote
maomao2014 Posted January 15, 2015 at 02:35 PM Report Posted January 15, 2015 at 02:35 PM 安雅 - Anya is also quite good peace and elegant Quote
Lu Posted January 15, 2015 at 03:02 PM Report Posted January 15, 2015 at 03:02 PM I had a female classmate named 丹. But yeah, it's more common in boys' names. I quite like 糸雅, although it might be misspelled a lot if she ends up using it in regular Chinese-language life. Quote
maomao2014 Posted January 15, 2015 at 03:10 PM Report Posted January 15, 2015 at 03:10 PM Not sure why 丹 is considered common in boy's name. Is it because Danny Denis or Daniel are translated into Chinese丹尼 丹尼斯 丹尼尔 丹is quite common in girls's name 1 Quote
skylee Posted January 15, 2015 at 03:19 PM Report Posted January 15, 2015 at 03:19 PM There is a （very） famous person called 王丹, a famous actor called 甄子丹， and a world badminton champion called 林丹. They are guys. PS - I agree that 丹 is common in female names too, such as 彭丹. 1 Quote
msruck Posted January 15, 2015 at 06:29 PM Author Report Posted January 15, 2015 at 06:29 PM Thank you for all the responses!! That is really helpful. So glad to know I should cross Mari off the list as that was a front runner before. I certainly don't want her to have a rude name! I wanted to add two more to the list also. 婵雅 - Chanya 韩娜 - Hanna 翰娜 - Hanna And I was wondering if anyone has opinions on Maya or Mika? No one mentioned them yet so I'm wondering how they sound to native speakers. Thank you again for all your help!! Quote
msruck Posted January 15, 2015 at 06:38 PM Author Report Posted January 15, 2015 at 06:38 PM Oh sorry, I see I did get one reply on Maya. Thanks! Anyone else have an opinion on that? Quote
Lu Posted January 16, 2015 at 10:14 AM Report Posted January 16, 2015 at 10:14 AM 卡 is a rather uncommon character to use in a name, I think. To me it makes the name look like the transliteration of a foreign name. I don't think it's bad, but it's not very Chinese. (I'm not a native speaker though.) Quote
skylee Posted January 16, 2015 at 12:21 PM Report Posted January 16, 2015 at 12:21 PM 嬋雅 is very nice, and it sounds nice too. But it is so elegant that some might find it old-fashioned (mainly because of the word 嬋). Quote
msruck Posted February 24, 2015 at 09:41 PM Author Report Posted February 24, 2015 at 09:41 PM Hello, I wrote for name help for our daughter a month ago. A lot of people responded, so thank you so much. It was very helpful. We still haven't quite pinned it down. But the choices have narrowed down!! Some more information...The last name is 黄. 梅 - Mei (in English, May) 霾 雅 or 梅 雅 - Maiya / Meiya (in English, Maia or Maya) From this small selection, what sounds best (to a native speaker)? Does having only Mei as a given name sound a bit trite and insubstantial? Is this character Mai 霾 too unusual to use for a name? And would it be strange for her to only have a two-character name 黄 梅 if her sibling has a three-character name? I'm not concerned about them having a matching generational name character. Thanks for all your help! Quote
skylee Posted February 25, 2015 at 05:31 AM Report Posted February 25, 2015 at 05:31 AM 梅 itself is OK, but 黃梅 is less so. Do not use 霾, or you would regret it. I think 梅雅 is OK, but the world 梅 is quite old fashioned IMO. I would take 美雅 instead. Quote
Lu Posted February 25, 2015 at 08:19 AM Report Posted February 25, 2015 at 08:19 AM I know of a girl named 张梅, but 黄梅 reads to me like 'yellow plum' and seems weird. So what Skylee said, basically. A two-character name while her sibling has a three-character name is a bit unusual, but not unheard-of, and I doubt anyone would raise more than half an eyebrow. What is her sibling's name, if you don't mind posting it? Quote
msruck Posted February 25, 2015 at 01:34 PM Author Report Posted February 25, 2015 at 01:34 PM sister's name is 玉娜 just to clarify, 黃 is the family name (not part of the given name). If 黃 is family name and 梅 is given name, is 黃梅 still very strange? The only other name we are considering now for the young one is Liya, 丽娅 or 丽雅 or 莉雅... Quote
skylee Posted February 25, 2015 at 02:21 PM Report Posted February 25, 2015 at 02:21 PM just to clarify, 黃 is the family name (not part of the given name). If 黃 is family name and 梅 is given name, is 黃梅 still very strange?Not sure how you would define "very strange". I would not want to be named 黃梅. But different people have different tastes.PS - I think 麗雅 and 莉雅 are fine. They are normal names. Personally I find 婭 pretentious (also take a look at the meaning http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?wdqb=%E5%A8%85), but perhaps this is just me. Quote
Lu Posted February 25, 2015 at 02:49 PM Report Posted February 25, 2015 at 02:49 PM just to clarify, 黃 is the family name (not part of the given name). If 黃 is family name and 梅 is given name, is 黃梅 still very strange?黄 is still part of the name, and you would often see both characters together. It sounds weird to me. Like, 贾 is a normal surname. 聪明 is a normal name (rather 土, but not bad per se). But although both these names are fine, you don't want to name your kid 贾聪明. To me, 梅雅/美雅 and 丽雅/莉雅 all sound good. Quote
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